Top of the EU's list to cut climate change emissions is a target of 'zero' for the number of petrol and diesel-driven cars and lorries in the EU's future cities. |
Cars will be banned from London and all other cities across Europe under a draconian EU masterplan to cut CO2 emissions by 60 per cent over the next 40 years. The European Commission on Monday unveiled a "single European transport area" aimed at enforcing "a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers" by 2050. The plan also envisages an end to cheap holiday flights from Britain to southern Europe with a target that over 50 per cent of all journeys above 186 miles should be by rail. Top of the EU's list to cut climate change emissions is a target of "zero" for the number of petrol and diesel-driven cars and lorries in the EU's future cities. Siim Kallas, the EU transport commission, insisted that Brussels directives and new taxation of fuel would be used to force people out of their cars and onto "alternative" means of transport. "That means no more conventionally fuelled cars in our city centres," he said. "Action will follow, legislation, real action to change behaviour." The Association of British Drivers rejected the proposal to ban cars as economically disastrous and as a "crazy" restriction on mobility. "I suggest that he goes and finds himself a space in the local mental asylum," said Hugh Bladon, a spokesman for the BDA. "If he wants to bring everywhere to a grinding halt and to plunge us into a new dark age, he is on the right track. We have to keep things moving. The man is off his rocker." Mr Kallas has denied that the EU plan to cut car use by half over the next 20 years, before a total ban in 2050, will limit personal mobility or reduce Europe's economic competitiveness. "Curbing mobility is not an option, neither is business as usual. We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility. It can be win-win," he claimed. Christopher Monckton, Ukip's transport spokesman said: "The EU must be living in an alternate reality, where they can spend trillions and ban people from their cars. "This sort of greenwashing grandstanding adds nothing and merely highlights their grandiose ambitions." (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
為嚴格執行歐盟減少二氧化碳排量的總體規劃,歐盟將禁止汽車在倫敦和歐洲所有其他城市行駛。歐盟的目標是在未來40年內使碳排放量減少60%。 周一歐盟委員會公布了一個“歐洲單一交通區”計劃,目標是在2050年前使“乘客的交通模式發生巨大的改變”。 該計劃還打算終結從英國到歐洲南部的廉價假日航班,爭取讓50%以上距離超過186英里的行程都通過鐵路完成。 歐盟減少污染物排放量的首要任務是讓汽油車、柴油車和卡車在未來的歐盟城市完全消失。 歐盟交通委員會的西姆?卡拉斯堅稱將通過布魯塞爾指令和對燃料征收新稅迫使人們放棄乘坐汽車,采用“替代”的交通工具。 他說:“這意味著傳統能源汽車將從我們的市中心消失。接下來還會采取措施,通過法規和實際行動改變大眾的行為。” 英國駕駛員協會拒絕接受這一提議,認為此舉對經濟的影響是災難性的,而且對人們流動的限制也過于“瘋狂”。 英國駕駛員協會的發言人休?布拉頓說:“我建議他給自己在當地的精神病院找個位置。” “如果他想讓各處都停止運轉,讓我們跨入一個新的黑暗時代,那他就做對了。我們必須讓一切繼續前進。這個人是精神錯亂了。” 在2050年完全禁車令之前,歐盟計劃在未來20年內將汽車使用量減半。卡拉斯先生否認歐盟的這一計劃會限制個人行動或降低歐洲的經濟競爭力。 卡拉斯稱:“我們并不會選擇限制流動,或犧牲經濟。我們可以打破交通系統對燃油的依賴,而不犧牲效率和流動性。這可以是一個雙贏的局面。” 英國獨立黨的交通發言人克里斯多夫?蒙克頓說:“歐盟一定生活在另外一個時空,在那里他們可以花錢無數,而且可以讓人們不用乘坐汽車。” “這種打著環保旗號的嘩眾取寵的行為于事無補,只會讓他們的宏圖偉志顯得更不切實際。” 相關閱讀 (中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯:馬文英) |
Vocabulary: draconian: (of a law, punishment, etc.) extremely harsh and severe(法律、懲罰等)嚴厲的;殘酷的 masterplan: 總體規劃 envisage: to imagine what will happen in the future(想像;設想;展望) Brussels directive: 布魯塞爾指令,又稱EC指令,是歐盟頒布的強制性指令 alternative: that can be used instead of something else(可供替代的) mobility: the ability to move or travel around easily(移動的能力;易于行走的能力) bring something to a grinding halt: 使漸漸停下來 off one's rocker: 發瘋;神經失常 greenwash: 綠漂(事實上不環保的廠商,做表面工夫維持環保形象) grandstanding: (especially in business, politics, etc.) the fact of behaving or speaking in a way that is intended to make people impressed in order to gain some advantage for yourself(尤指在商業、政治等方面)嘩眾取寵;炫耀 grandiose: seeming very impressive but too large, complicated, expensive, etc. to be practical or possible(華而不實的;浮夸的;不切實際的) |