The Irish prime minister has pledged to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars within the country from 2030, in a move that he said will help to make the Republic of Ireland “healthy and great again”.
Leo Varadkar said during a speech at Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin that banning car tailpipe emissions, as well as the use of peat and coal in power stations, would help to make Ireland “a leader in climate action”.
If enforced, his 2030 combustion-engined car ban would be enforced a decade before a similar ban takes place in the UK. It's not yet known if Varadkar’s ban would exclude hybrid cars, like the UK ban will.
Varadkar said the harsh action would come as part of plans to make Ireland sustainable. He said such a move would require “profound changes in how we live our lives" that "will only be possible with the support of communities and individuals”.
Varadkar’s comments come in the same week that British mayors from several leading cities met the UK’s environment secretary, Michael Gove, to propose moving the 2040 ban on pure petrol and diesel vehicles forward by 10 years.
“Air pollution isn't an isolated problem, it’s a national health crisis,” mayor of London Sadiq Khan said. “Our country’s filthy air is shortening lives, damaging lungs and severely impacting on the NHS.”
Gove recently introduced a new clean air strategy that outlined plans to reduce particulate emissions from vehicle brakes and tyres. However, the strategy refrained from tightening plans introduced in 2017 that included the 2040 petrol and diesel car ban.
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Just Drum banging...?
Yes, yes I think so, seeing to doing something gets you votes in the future, plus, every other Nation will do the same, Scotland and Wales will follow also.....
Dumb PM
How can you make a speech and not differentiate between hybrids and BEV. People need to know the facts rather than use a dumb PM's speech to have a go at BEV.
2030
1.Will he still be PM?
What is he going to do with the peat and coal fired BASE LOAD POWER generators no longer work?A friend of mine in Sydney asked a senior electrical engineer in the transport industry to give him a figure on how many wind turbines would be needed to power just one 8 car electric train on one line(20 miles).To provide the necessary stable power supply the number was 7 of the largest wind turbines running constantly.Thats one train, the network has 1000.Do the maths.
I presume he doesn't enjoy the benefits of cars,central heating,flying,eating,smartphones etc etc.Does he really believe the "progress of human civilisation" will accept a reverting to the dark ages.I ask the question.If a massive storm comes of the Irish sea or Atlantic and devastates cities and towns in Ireland,no power,no water, and yet he says he wants no ICE vehicles,only electric.Good one,what happens when an electric ambulance or fire engine can't charge their batteries?The physics just don't work.And these people get elected?