Call to ban petrol cars by 2040

[4me2]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Call to ban petrol cars by 2040

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> Sir Menzies wants to set out 'distinctive' policies

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF -->The Lib Dems have backed a radical series of proposals to tackle climate change - including a ban on petrol powered cars by 2040.
Environment spokesman Chris Huhne said tackling global warming would need an "enormous economic change".
He set out plans to make Britain carbon neutral by 2050 at the party's annual conference in Brighton.
The Lib Dems are trying to regain the initiative after high profile Tory and Labour green announcements. <!-- E SF -->
<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg> Look you need a thick skin in this business... and the one thing the public does see through is if you try to be something you are not


Sir Menzies Campbell



<!-- S ILIN -->At-a-glance: Day one
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Send us your comments
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Mr Huhne warned that climate change means "far more wild weather" following the devastating floods over the summer.
Setting out his "green vision", Mr Huhne warned there was little time left to change the way people live.
Some of the other key proposals in the Liberal Democrats' Zero Carbon Britain plan are:

• Introduce green mortgages to encourage more environmentally friendly homes
• Charging lorries to use the UK's roads in order to double rail investment, possibly creating a high speed line running north to south
• Boosting spending on flood defences to respond to climate change
• Encouraging microgeneration by paying a higher rate to producers who export energy to the National Grid
• Creating a climate change levy of £10 on domestic flights

The conference voted to reject a call by MEP Chris Davies to end the party's opposition to nuclear power.

Before his conference speech, Mr Huhne told reporters: "With these plans we can restructure the economy towards a basis that is based on renewable energy not on fossil fuels.
"It's an enormous economic change but it's an economic change in line with changes which we've seen in the past, for example between the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century moving from steam power to the petrol engine, moving from gas light to electric light."
Mr Huhne's proposals received the overwhelming backing of the party conference.
Nuclear motion
Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said his party was the only one to stand up and say what has to be done to address climate change.
"We should be working towards a carbon-neutral Britain by 2050. We should be working towards the elimination of petrol-driven motor cars," he told BBC1's Breakfast programme.
"We should be really radical in what we do - the urgency of the problem is really enormous."
The conference motion says the scientific evidence for climate change is "overwhelming" and that "if decisive action is not taken in the next decade, any prospect of a stable climate may be lost".
This is being challenged by Chris Davies, the party's climate change spokesman in the European Parliament.
Unfair
He said: "I have always been opposed to nuclear power. It is expensive, creates a legacy of radioactive waste and has absorbed public resources that should have been used to develop alternative technologies.
"But the imperative now is to fight global warming. We cannot ignore the fact that our existing nuclear power stations do not release carbon dioxide.
"Carbon emissions will rise as they come to the end of their lives."
Meanwhile, Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vincent Cable attacked the government over the Northern Rock crisis.
He unveiled research suggesting voters believe the wealth gap in the UK is unfair. Hear more on the Lib Dem's views on airport runways and petrol taxation in a Newsnight interview with Sir Menzies Campbell - Monday 17 September, 2230 BST, BBC Two.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6997957.stm
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[Fusen]

never going to happen

[Goldberg]

Bring it! I'll be finished with driving In 33 years time. I /should/ be retired and not care about driving as i'll be sat in a Wetherspoons each and everyday drinking Newcastle Brown with whiskey chasers complaining about more important issues like the price of bacon lol

[ant3b]

Should be electric anyway. Someone come up with a viable solution like a motor which converts household waste into fuel then man they are going to popular and rich

[DJAd]

All the time there is oil to sell cars will rule the roads.

[MsDG]

The Lib Dems have backed a radical series of proposals to tackle climate change - including a ban on petrol powered cars by 2040.

Quite harsh I harsh i think... Just imagine being 90 miles away from home at 8:30pm and you've only got 10 minutes left!

[ant3b]

Get on your bikes!!! pedal ones that is!!!

[BBK]

Great idea, would love to see it happen. There's no reason why in 33 years science shouldn't have developed the electric car to the extent that it can be used without running out of power, or if that happens, plug in a couple of AA's and get home that way

[Freddy]

Quite harsh I harsh i think... Just imagine being 90 miles away from home at 8:30pm and you've only got 10 minutes left!

LMFAO