London Levy. Should we do this?

[burritos]

In London, a levy for sins of emission - Los Angeles Times

In an unusual municipal experiment aimed at fighting global warming where the rubber meets the road, the British capital in October is to begin imposing a $50-a-day carbon emissions fee on every gas-guzzling private vehicle driven in the central city.

This is hilarious. I'm all for it. Drive cleaner cars. Want to pollute? Pay for it.

The goal, he said, is to "have an impact throughout the world, with other cities following suit," and to "start a cultural revolution whereby drivers in every city in Britain start to think about the impact on the environment of their choice of car."

THINK ABOUT THE IMPACT. Good idea.

[qbee42]

It's a good idea.

Tom

[Tideland Prius]

Doesn't work. I mean all that'll do is people park at the edge and walk in or bus in. Pollution doesn't magically stop at the city centre boundary.

[tripp]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

Doesn't work. I mean all that'll do is people park at the edge and walk in or bus in. Pollution doesn't magically stop at the city centre boundary.

They'll have to pay for parking, which I would imagine will get quite expensive if the demand increases. The opportunity cost of commuting alone will go up quite a bit, I would imagine.

[problemchild]

Originally Posted by burritos

In London, a levy for sins of emission - Los Angeles Times

This is hilarious. I'm all for it. Drive cleaner cars. Want to pollute? Pay for it.


THINK ABOUT THE IMPACT. Good idea.

Well if we look at history every time the "Good Intentioned" people in government enact another feel-good do-good law it fails. Just take a look at welfare or amnesty and see what that has done to this country. How about raising taxes? All that is is another tax. It wont work. It will fail. As a people we should not be forced to do something. I would rather live in freedom then a dictatorship. If people go to college get a degree and work hard to afford a big car so be it. It you work at a burger joint and can only afford a honda civic that is 20 years old why should you get a break driving into a city?

This is just plain stupid and I really cant believe how brainwashed people are becoming.

[richard schumacher]

Doesn't work. I mean all that'll do is people park at the edge and walk in or bus in.

Are you being ironic? They'll be driving less and substituting public transport or walking. That reduces total emissions.

[bgdrewsif]

I lived in Kensington, London for 3 months and I could never once understand why anyone would even want to have a car in that city.... It is infinitely easier to just use public transport (tube, bus, water taxi, taxi car, bicycle, or just walk (it is a very walkable city!)... I traveled all over london and to and around Edinburgh, Scotland, Paris, France, and Germany without ever once traveling on non-public transport.... Yet here I drive on average about 18,500 miles per year in my Prius... go figure...

Edit: Oh, and the central congestion charging scheme began several years ago to limit vehicles in the central city.. i believe it was and 8 pound a day charge (about $14.00)... but to add the environmental element to the congestion charge zone is a great move if you ask me...

[psikot]

what do poor people do?

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by psikot

what do poor people do?

Public transportation, which is what rich people should do too. Unlike many cities in the U.S., London has very good public transportation.

Tom

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by richard schumacher

Are you being ironic? They'll be driving less and substituting public transport or walking. That reduces total emissions.

You're just moving the emissions from the city core to the city edge. Yes, less congestion means less emissions as cars idle for fewer minutes but air knows no boundary. There's no reason the emissions can't be blown into the city core.

They won't be driving that much less. Just to the city edge. Then the city edge complains about traffic etc etc