Make a Difference on 4x4s

By Sian Berry Ecology/Science
From The New Statesman :: print :: email this page

This time last year, we were having a little party at Alliance Against Urban 4×4s HQ after Ken Livingstone announced plans to charge 4×4s (and other gas-guzzlers) a £25 congestion charge just a few weeks after we delivered our petition calling for almost exactly that. Now the hard work really begins as the plan is going out for public consultation this week.

In case you missed them, the proposals aim to introduce a new daily charge of £25 for cars in vehicle excise duty band G, covering cars that emit more than 225 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre. There are also improved discounts for cleaner cars, with all vehicles in bands A and B (emitting less than 120 g/km of carbon dioxide) becoming totally exempt from the charge.

I don’t think anyone can argue that they need a 4×4 or 200 mph sports car in the centre of London and, in the absence of real action from central government, taking the lead and promoting cleaner cars on our own initiative is completely appropriate. The new rate will include all but a handful of 4×4s and every Bentley and Ferrari in town and will even remove their 90% resident’s discount, meaning owners of pointless status symbols will each pay a whopping £6,500 more per year just to have their machines parked in the zone.

I’m being harsh, but it’s an important issue. These cars aren’t harmless; the quantity of carbon dioxide emitted from even the least wasteful band G car is immense. If you have such a car, think about this: 225 g/km is the weight of a brick – of gas! – coming out of your exhaust pipe every five and half miles.

Rejected petition - any suggestions?

number10@petitions.pm.gov.uk
No 10 writes to me to say
"Hi,
I'm sorry to inform you that your petition has been rejected. Your petition was classed as being in the following categories: * Duplicate - this is similar to and/or overlaps with an existing petition or petitions Further information: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/banurban4x4s/

So you might sign this one
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Ban the use of private 4x4 vehicles in urban environments. More details -
Submitted by Stuart Billington – Deadline to sign up by: 15 June 2008 – Signatures: 9

If you wish to edit and resubmit your petition, please follow the following link: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Hummers4Bummers/CrGkKbB3JgKHA4LMaZAJ9Cu You have four weeks in which to do this, after which your petition will appear in the list of rejected petitions. Your petition reads: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to: 'implement an energy policy that promotes gas-saving technologies' We, the undersigned, declare that over-sized, gas-guzzling, garishly painted, mileage-meager, energy-wasting, global-warming, road-hogging, backward-technology-embracing, inferiority-complex-compensating, cup-holder-infested "sports utility vehicles" are unsportsmanlike, non-utilitarian, and downright bad for the planet.

e-petition Tony Blair .on 4x4s scourge of 21srcentury urban environment

from the BBC politics website

One of Tony Blair's latest wheezes to engage directly with the public is to ask them to send e-petitions to the Downing Street website. A personal favourite, however, suggests Tony Blair should "stand on his head and juggle ice cream" on the basis that, "if he is not going to resign, the least he can do is provide us with some entertainment". All very funny. But the most surprising thing is that this particular petition has received so many backers that only the first 500 names have been published on the site. I wonder how long this particular initiative will last?

The 4x4 is the scourge of the 21st century urban environment. Uneconomic, gas-guzzling and downright dangerous, they prowl the streets outside our cities' primary schools, seeking whom they may knock down and seriously injure. The average 4x4 appears to be driven by harrassed parents with a back seat full of screaming kids in areas with many children engaged in the risky activity of crossing roads. They are accidents waiting to happen. We would be better off with them removed from our streets. Please sign up and beseech our government to rid us of this modern pest. Or at least make them pay heavily for their continued existence.