Low emission cars are key part of Tories’ ‘green’ agenda

Hydrogen fuel cell and battery powered cars are a key part of Tory leader David Cameron’s environmental plans to both strengthen the economy and help tackle the rising cost of living.

In a speech to environmental leaders, Mr Cameron outlined what he called ‘our Blue/Green Charter’, which included pledges to:

Encourage business, industry and innovators to develop green products and services such as hydrogen fuel cell and battery powered cars Use green taxes to change behaviour, not just raise revenue - and use the tax increases to fund tax cuts for families Tackle the problems of road congestion and poor train services, which will help both the environment and the economy Change the way employees travel to work Mr Cameron said: “The truth is: it’s not that we can’t afford to go green – it’s that we can’t afford not to go green. When oil is moving towards $140 a barrel, when families are being hit hard every time they pay their gas bill, fill up their cars or do the weekly shop, are you telling me we shouldn’t - we can’t - go green? We’ve got to. We must wean ourselves off our dependence on fossil fuels and go green.”

Referring to ‘green’ cars, Mr Cameron said: “It’s obvious we will never become truly green if our cars continue running exclusively on petrol and diesel. And it’s equally obvious that we should never expect people to give up driving. So it’s clear we that we should be doing all that we can to deliver the technology for greener cars.

“This won’t happen through a retrospective tax on cars bought seven years ago [referring to planned Government changes in Vehicle Excise Duty]. If you want businesses and individuals to make green choices, green plans and green investments, they need certainty for the future, not punishments for the past. That’s why we’ve set an aggressive long-range target to bring the average emissions level for new cars down to 100 g/km by 2022. This sends the clearest signal to the market - get researching, get developing, get producing, because if you don’t, you won’t survive.

“But I want us to go further. I want Britain to be the world leader in hydrogen fuel cell or battery powered cars. Can you imagine the impact, not just on our carbon emissions but on the quality of life in our towns and cities, if we moved en masse to such new, green technology?”

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