Paris, Athens, Madrid, and Mexico City to Ban Diesel

The diesel engine again came under fire this week, as the mayors of four major cities announced that they had pledged to ban diesel vehicles from their cities by 2025.

The mayors of Paris, Athens, Madrid, and Mexico City announced the pledge at the 2016 C40 Mayors Summit, a meeting of more than 80 mayors from the world’s biggest cities held every two years to discuss climate-change related topics.

“Today, we also stand up to say we no longer tolerate air pollution and the health problems and deaths it causes – particularly for our most vulnerable citizens,” said Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, in a statement. “Big problems like air pollution require bold action, and we call on car and bus manufacturers to join us.”

Diesel engines, though more economical, generally emit more particulate matter than their gas-powered counterparts. This can lead to smog and health issues.

For some, though, just banning diesels wasn’t enough.

“Our goal is to ultimately remove all cars from the center of Athens in the years to come,” said Giorgos Kaminis, mayor of Athens.

As an alternative to diesel—or cars in general—the mayors promised to invest in green infrastructure, such as mass transit, bicycle lanes, and walking paths.

The announcement follows tightening diesel regulations from world regulators, which some manufacturers say will prohibit the manufacture diesel vehicles.

The Volkswagen Group, following its TDI scandal has been moving away from diesel. With four major diesel markets banning the fuel, it looks increasingly like VW’s plan to effectively replace diesel with electric power is well-founded.

[source: The Drive]

Lead image by Taxiarchos228, cropped and modified by Poke2001 – Paris-pano-wladyslaw.jpg, CC BY 3.0, http://ift.tt/2h30tmf

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