The man of the day is called Siim Kalas, EU’s transport commissioner and he has come up with a plan that he himself describes as “very radical” and “very ambitious” (Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area). The goal? To eliminate gasoline and diesel fueled automobiles by the year 2050!
More precisely, the plan is to set up one European “transport area” in which non-polluting vehicles would take the place of the ones running on gas and even their number would decrease to let the public transport take some of the toll: high-speed trains but no short-distance flights (within 186 miles)! Unfortunately and surprisingly, this means more money: Kalas estimates a sum easily reaching 1.5 trillion Euros ($2.1 trillion).
However, he is fairly optimistic about its feasibility: while acknowledging mobility should not have to suffer, he draws attention to the fact that, if things are left in the current stage, there won’t be a planet to drive on in the first place.
As expected, the proposal caused some sparkles between petrolhead drivers: “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,” declared the head of the Association of British Drivers, who think the commissioner doesn’t know the ground he is walking on.
Whether he is right or wrong, Mr Kalas’ proposal is at least worth saluting as a firm gesture to move things in the right direction!
