A row has broken out between SMMT, the trade association representing motor manufacturers, and Friends of the Earth. The environmental pressure group has called for a big rise in tax on 4×4 vehicles, and SMMT doesn’t like it. The Motor car industry is suffering at present, maybe it’s in recession, and the last thing it wants is for Friends of the Earth to be on its case, especially says SMMT, when it dismisses nuclear power so readily.
SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan commented, “Nuclear power may or may not be the way forward in terms of energy policy. However, to adopt a ‘no thanks’ policy with its echoes from the cold war era, while berating drivers of 4×4 and SUV vehicles, is quite wrong. A full and informed debate on all efforts to cut CO2 across all industries would best serve the environment in the medium and long term.
“According to the BBC, Friends of the Earth and Green Party members are today targeting 4×4 drivers in Norwich, handing out ‘parking tickets’ in a protest over air quality.
“Yet, once again, protestors are ignoring the facts. As well as average CO2 reductions of around 15 per cent in six years, a modern 4×4 diesel emits just seven per cent of the particulate emissions of a 15 year old saloon. Similarly on air quality NOx emissions, standards for the latest Euro 4 petrol 4×4s are six times as tight as those for a Euro 2 saloon, some of which are as little as five years old.
“Will Friends of the Earth and Green Party members be ticketing drivers of older, more polluting saloons, estates and small cars?”
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