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Paris, Madrid, Athens, Mexico City Will Ban Diesel Vehicles By 2025 (bbc.com)
The mayors of four major global cities -- Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens -- announced plans to stop the use of all diesel-powered cars and trucks by 2025. The leaders made their commitments in Mexico at a biennial meeting of city leaders. BBC reports: At the C40 meeting of urban leaders in Mexico, the four mayors declared that they would ban all diesel vehicles by 2025 and "commit to doing everything in their power to incentivize the use of electric, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles." "It is no secret that in Mexico City, we grapple with the twin problems of air pollution and traffic," said the city's mayor, Miguel Angel Mancera. "By expanding alternative transportation options like our Bus Rapid Transport and subway systems, while also investing in cycling infrastructure, we are working to ease congestion in our roadways and our lungs." Paris has already taken a series of steps to cut the impact of diesel cars and trucks. Vehicles registered before 1997 have already been banned from entering the city, with restrictions increasing each year until 2020. The use of diesel in transport has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, as concerns about its impact on air quality have grown. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that around three million deaths every year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution. Diesel engines contribute to the problem in two key ways -- through the production of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Very fine soot PM can penetrate the lungs and can contribute to cardiovascular illness and death. Nitrogen oxides can help form ground level ozone and this can exacerbate breathing difficulties, even for people without a history of respiratory problems. The diesel ban is hugely significant. Carmakers will look at this decision and know it's just a matter of time before other city mayors follow suit.
California and Mexico city suffer from a huge problem when it comes to air flow.
Mexico City is basically in a bowl, and the prevailing winds for California slap up against the rocky mountains and dump it all back on California.
So Yeah, they really do need to go all electric. But that's not a reason to ban non electrics from the rest of the world that doesn't put huge cities in the dumbest places where emissions are magnified.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
So go die. You are the destroyer of the planet, and will not be missed. The world will be a better place without you, your crotchfruit and the people like you.
They pollute more, even as they consume less.
There is no current replacement for a diesel. It is more efficient than gasoline. If you think that 400HP diesel engine in a bus pollutes a lot, just wait until you replace it with the equivalent powered gasoline engine. There is no alternative. You cannot haul loads of people or freight on batteries... This decision to ban is probably completely lobbied for.
That is actually the key to getting cars out of the city. When public transport is more convenient then a car, then people would stop driving into the city with a car. Problem solved.
My work is way out here.
And that city 50 miles away is 60,000 people. The closest major city is 125 miles away.
This is why lots of folks are rising up against the urban elites: you don't understand and can't conceive of any other lifestyle but your own.
Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
Living in the middle of nowhere was your choice. Other people don't have to subsidize it.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
That sword cuts both ways. Living in the middle of an urban rabbit warren is your choice, but we don't have to subsidize that either...and yet we're on the hook for billion-dollar mass transit boondoggles in places where they don't make sense.
Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
Camel's nose effect. The kinds of enviro-wackos who get off on banning things won't stop at just those four cities.
Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!