In the mid-1990s, car companies battled the disappearance of the first electric vehicles, thereby ensuring the industry's continued dependence on oil. But these efforts now seem in vain as the age of the internal combustion engine and the pollution it causes may well come to an end.
New government decision
It turns out that the other day France announced that it was going to ban the sale of diesel and gasoline cars by 2040. Agree, this is an extremely interesting solution for everyone who wants to live in a greener and cleaner world. This step was taken by the government of Emmanuel Macron, the new president of France, who quickly won the trust of the French with his rational decisions.
The announcement of the new bill was made by the Minister of the Environment of France, Nicolas Yule. At a press conference, he said: "We are announcing our intention to stop selling gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040."
Thus, France joins a number of other countries that plan to ban these types of cars in the coming years. The list of these countries includes the Netherlands and Norway (by 2025), as well as Germany and India (by 2030).
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However, the details of this bill are not fully clear. Even if France will ban the sale of these vehicles in 2040 and focus on electric vehicles, it is not known what will happen to the existing vehicles that run on fossil fuels. According to BBC News, poor households will benefit if they themselves cannot replace their old cars with new, environmentally friendly ones.
Recall also about the decision of Volvo's management to make all of its cars, at least partially, electric by 2019. The French government hopes that other car manufacturers will also announce similar initiatives.
Reducing carbon use
And this is just one of several plans through which France should stop using carbon by 2050. The government plans to end the use of coal by 2022, and also reduce its dependence on nuclear power from 75 percent to 50 percent by 2025. Such a statement sounds strange given the benefits and sustainability of nuclear power.
Compliance with the terms of the Paris Agreement
All of these decisions are, of course, driven by the Paris Climate Agreement. While some countries still do not take the threat of climate change seriously, it is great to see that many leaders have a stake in saving our planet. For example, today at the G20 summit, which brought together leaders from all over the world, one of the main issues will be climate change.
It's amazing to think that our world could change so much by 2040. The time when the air of our cities was filled with exhaust gases from cars will soon be a thing of the past, and looking back, we will only wonder why it took us so long to switch to electric cars.
Anna Pismenna
