Energy Minister calls for more rapid progress towards low carbon cars
Tue 28 February 2006
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The Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks, attacked drivers of large, inefficient vehicles in an interview with the Times newspaper. He also criticised British and European manufacturers for being too slow to develop hybrid cars.
Mr Wicks said: “There is crass irresponsibility in some of the larger monstrosities people drive around suburbia and in London. We have to move against this kind of thing.”
Mr Wicks is also reported as saying: “I’m disappointed how slow some motor manufacturers have been to follow the lead of the Japanese. Why do I use a Toyota Prius hybrid? Other things being equal, I would like to have bought a car from a British or European manufacturer.”
Mr Wicks said that the measures that the Government had adopted so far, such as purchase grants for cleaner vehicles, are no longer enough.
“Given the very demanding CO2 cuts we must make, we are going to need more than just a series of marginal changes. We are going to need a step change. We will have to ask ‘is it environmentally responsible to be producing cars which are a serious part of the problem?’ There will come a time when it will be irresponsible for those to be on sale.”
In the same article, the Transport Minister, Dr Ladyman, is quoted as saying: “Somewhere down the supply chain, it will have to be more expensive to supply fuels which are high in CO2.
“The thrust of any policy post-2010 has to be to make people make greener choices.”
Related Links
Times on-line news link
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