The European Commission’s decision to extend the sale of fuel-powered cars goes against scientific evidence.
A Europe postponed this Tuesday the farewell final car with a diesel engine combustion internal. Not cancelled, but postponed.
Until now, the goal established that, in 2035, fuel-powered cars would no longer be sold. Fully. No fuel cars could be sold.
After several protests and warnings about the collapse in the automobile sector, and after a lobby (especially German brands) to avoid this scam, the European Commission backed down. It significantly changed one of its main climate policies.
It wasn’t a complete reversal, it was a softening: the new proposal reduces this target to 90%.
From 2035 onwards, car manufacturers must “meet a target of 90% reduction in exhaust emissionswhile the remaining 10% of emissions will have to be plywood through two compensation mechanisms that include the use of low carbon steel manufactured in the Union and effective reduction emissions from synthetic fuels and biofuels placed on the market during a specific year”.
In short: zero emissions are replaced by 90% reduction in exhaust emissions.
This margin allows plug-in hybrids remain on the market to a lesser extent and gives manufacturers more time to adapt its production and recover the investments already made.
The idea is that if the hybrids continue to exist, they must be manufactured with cleaner and European-sourced materialsresume o .
And the consequences?
But this decision by the European Commission will against scientific evidence. Prolonging the circulation of diesel and gasoline vehicles directly contradicts all the scientific evidence accumulated over decades.
Experts interviewed on the radio recall that, in Spain alone, air pollution causes around 200,000 premature deaths per year – and road traffic is one of the main sources of this pollution.
Almost all (99%) of the gases emitted by a car are made up of nitrogen, water vapor, oxygen and carbon dioxide. CO₂ is mainly responsible for climate change (and all the consequences for humans).
And the remaining 1% of what comes out of the exhaust of diesel engines? Nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides and soot – declared carcinogenic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
All of them highly harmful substances, which end up in the air we breathe and, ultimately, in our lungs.
Consequences direct effects of exposure to these pollutants on human health: respiratory tract problems, asthma, bronchitis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer.
“The more cars, the more hospital admissions”, summarizes or researcher Julio Díaz.
