THE UK and Scottish governments are waging war on the motorist in their mission to reduce greenhouse gases to net zero.
In view of all the demands of climate change demonstrators and their disciples, surely measuring greenhouse gas emissions should be introduced in other areas such as music festivals, football matches, awards ceremonies, fireworks displays, off-road cycling, hill walking and skiing. These pastimes require a vehicle to get there, creating more emissions, so how will these emissions be offset? A green tax on the individual? Dame Emma Thompson, stung by criticism over flying 5,400 miles from LA to London to join Extinction Rebellion climate protesters, planted a few trees. The Extinction Rebellion demonstrations must have created thousands of tons of additional emissions: what have their followers done to offset this?
These comments show how ridiculous the crusade to reduce emissions really is, where the public feel the pain of green policies in higher energy bills, vehicle restrictions and green taxes. One example is that the taxpayer has to fund the network of charging points for electric vehicles (EVs). Only the rich can afford EVs. The companies which manufacture EVs should pay for the charging points and the affluent owners of EVs should pay to use them.
Finally, what emissions have been created by the annual Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP)? COP25 will be held in Madrid next month, not Chile where demonstrations are creating more emissions. Twenty-four yearly meetings have already been held, so one must ask what has been achieved and how many tons of additional emissions were created by the 30,000 attendees each year?
Reality check for politicians, Greta, impressionable schoolchildren and XR demonstrators: the UK is responsible for 1.13 per cent of global emissions, Scotland 0.13 per cent, while the majority of the world burns fossil fuels, builds coal-fired power plants and drives 1.2billion vehicles, 99 per cent petrol/diesel. Saving the planet may take a little longer.
