The former head of oil company Shell here in the UK has said that the sale of ‘gas guzzling’ cars should be banned.
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According to the Daily Telegraph, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, who was chairman of Shell between 1998 and 2001, said that that cars that do less than 35mpg should be banned for environmental reasons.
He said: “We need very tough regulation saying that you can’t drive or build something less than a certain standard. You would be allowed to drive an Aston Martin – but only if it did 50-60mpg.”
He said that he thought that taxing the use of high polluting cars would not be enough and compared the banning of cars to the banning of coal fires in London in the 1960s to eliminate smog.
He said: “When we eliminated coal fires in London we didn’t say to people in Chelsea you can pay a bit more and toast your crumpets in front of an open fire – we said nobody, but nobody, could have an open fire.”
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By GlobalDataMoody-Stuart told BBC News that car makers objected to the introduction of catalytic converters on the basis that they would increase car prices, but now all cars have them as standard.
The comments came as London’s new Low Emission Zone cames into force. Heavy trucks that do not comply with Euro III particulate matter (PM) emissions standards now have to pay to enter the city though it has made some initial-compliance concessions to truck operators after pleas from road transport groups. Lighter trucks and buses will be added in July, and light vans from 2010.
From 2012 heavy vehicles will have to comply with Euro IV PM emissions standards.
