cars

Another day another attempt to kill a clean car law in its tracks.

Or so it seems. Because only the other week I wrote about the German government’s last ditch attempt to sabotage a law that will cut CO2 emissions from cars and provide 400,000 new jobs by 2030 across Europe. Now they're back with round two. No prizes for guessing that they’ve gone for stamina over originality.

Politicians would make terrible magicians. That’s my conclusion after reading a new proposal that sets out how Europe should meet its fuel economy targets for all new cars.

The German government’s proposal is an attempt to con the rest of Europe into playing into the hands of car companies like BMW and Daimler.

Of all the shoulders to cry on, it might seem strange to pick the German Chancellor’s. But that’s what the German car association (VDA) did this week when its president Matthias Wissman wrote to her to moan that long-term targets for cleaner cars could strangle the car industry. He asked her to take a strong position against the regulations which are currently being debated in Brussels.

When the alarm rang at 4.45am this morning, I was already awake. Nobody overslept or moaned about feeling tired. And after a quick pre-action breakfast we piled into the minibus, loaded with climbing equipment, a huge banner and our petition printed with the names of 20,000 UK campaign supporters. We were on route to Lewes, the constituency of UK Transport Minister, Norman Baker, who this Wednesday will represent the UK in a make-or-break moment for the future of pollution from cars.

Who'd have thought it? Just days before MEPs vote on what future cars should look like, UK oil companies, together with the RAC, have just come forward and said we're asking for the right amount of car fuel efficiency.

There's something big happening in Europe right now. Politicians are debating laws that could drastically cut CO2 from cars. And less CO2 means less need for oil and a safer Arctic.

Let's smash CO2 emissions! Check out our latest video and tell our politicians that we want cleaner cars now.