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Let's forbid it! EC madness.
Plastic bags to go - EU
Alvise Armellini
Brussels - The European Union is to consider banning plastic shopping bags because of their polluting effect, the EU's Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik announced on Monday.
Potocnik said "current trends in the plastic packaging industry are not sustainable," with production of bags having "exploded," leading to "effects [that] are all too evident in our environment and especially in our seas".
The European Commission will therefore look "at all options" and launch an impact assessment on "the possibility of a Europe-wide ban on single-use of plastic bags", he said.
The commissioner spoke on the margins of a meeting of EU environment ministers in Brussels, where the issue of banning the sale of plastic shopping bags - rather than just discouraging their use by taxing them -was raised by Austria.
Current EU rules do not allow such a measure, meaning that Italy, which enforced a ban on January 1, could see the EU commission start legal proceedings against it.
But in the light of Potocnik's announcement, "there will be no infringement procedure" against Rome, Italian Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo told reporters.
Source: http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Plastic-bags-to-go-EU-20110314
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So why don't you think that's a good thing to do, Victor?
First question is: are plastic bags really that polluting? We're using plastic bags for over 60 years now. I think cars pollute more than plastic bags. So why not forbid cars?
Answer to your question: because every individual state can decide for itself if 'plastic bags are polluting'. It's the opinion of the European Commission, and not the view of the different states.
We simply don't need a union because of this. What's your opinion?
Firstly, I don't think that just because something is less polluting than other things we shouldn't care about it. Stopping pollution can't be achieved in one swoop phasing out only the biggest pollutants, we have to consider small measures as well.
Secondly, pollution by plastic bags can't be compared to pollution by cars, as the production of plastic bags doesn't cause that many CO2 emissions. Instead they use up limited resources (i.e. oil) and all end up in the environment (forests, oceans...) because they are not being recycled and are not biodegradable where they can harm plants and animals.
I agree with you that we don't really need the EU to come to this conclusion, but seeing that member states have not enforced appropriate measures yet and plastic bags are still widely used, the Commission's initiative (which is still just a plan for an impact assessment by the way) is a good step in my opinion.
And the EU-Italy quarrel is a perfect example of unnecessary EU rules.
Of course we have to pay attention on things (in this case plastic bags) that produce harmful stuff. But a lot of national (and European
) political parties and action groups (WWF, Greenpeace) already lobby for environmental measures. I just mentioned that forbidding plastic bags is a very heavy measure compared to the enormous emission by the total number of cars.
Concerning your last paragraph: this EC 'plan' was indeed the reason to create this topic. However: you say that we don't really need a EU for this, but in your last sentence you say that this initiative is a good plan. Can you explain this?
I meant that we shouldn't need the EU for this because member states should come to these conclusions on their own. But apparently they don't, so it's good that at least the EU is doing something.
Ah, I think the EU read this topic and decided to forbid more!
UK rejects EU call for city centre ban on petrol cars
The UK has rejected proposals from the EU which call for a ban on petrol and diesel cars from city centres by 2050.
The European Commission said phasing out "conventionally fuelled" cars from urban areas would cut reliance on oil and help cut carbon emissions by 60%.
But UK Transport Minister Norman Baker said it should not be "involved" in individual cities' transport choices.
"We will not be banning cars from city centres anymore than we will be having rectangular bananas," he said.
Outlining plans for a "Single European Transport Area", the Commission said there needed to be a "profound shift" in travel patterns to reduce reliance on oil and to lower emissions from transport by 60% by 2050.
Travel shift
As part of this, it wants half of "middle distance journeys" between cities - above approximately 186 miles - to shift from road to rail.
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The widely-held belief that you need to cut mobility to fight climate change is simply not true”
Siim Kallas EU Transport Commissioner
Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said this move, plus the phasing out of petrol or diesel cars in city centres, need not inconvenience people.
"Freedom to travel is a basic right for our citizens," he said. "Curbing mobility is not an option. Nor is business as usual."
"The widely-held belief that you need to cut mobility to fight climate change is simply not true. We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility."
'Challenging'
Announcing a series of "challenging" targets, Mr Kallas said there should be a 50% reduction in conventionally-fuelled cars in city centres by 2030, disappearing altogether 20 years later.
The Commission also hopes to "move close" to eliminating deaths by road accidents by 2050, halving current fatality rates by 2020.
Other objectives would see all major "hub" airports connected by rail by 2050, freight vehicles in cities becoming "carbon-free" by 2030 while 30% of road freight travelling "medium distances" would move to rail or water-borne modes by that point.
Continue reading the main story
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It is not right for them (the EU) to get involved in how this is delivered in individual cities”
Norman Baker Transport Minister
While the majority of long-distance and inter-continental journeys will still be undertaken by plane or by ship, the Commission says airlines should steadily increase their use of low-carbon fuels - hitting a 40% target by 2050.
It also wants Europe's air traffic control operations to be modernised with the introduction of a single integrated system.
The centrepiece of the UK's transport plans is a £17bn high-speed rail between London and Birmingham, while ministers are also seeking to encourage greater take-up of electric cars by offering a £5,000 discount to buyers.
'Wrong direction'
But ministers indicated they would not be adopting the main plank of the EU plan.
"It is right that the EU sets high-level targets for carbon reduction, however it is not right for them to get involved in how this is delivered in individual cities," Mr Baker said.
"We are committed to decarbonising road transport by, for example, investing more than £400m over the next four years to support electric vehicles and promoting alternatives to car travel like walking and cycling."
Environment campaigners welcomed some of the proposals but said there needed to be more investment in public transport to deliver them.
"We are all paying the price for a transport policy that's been heading in the wrong direction for far too long," Richard Dyer, Friends of the Earth's transport director, said.
"Phasing out cars that run on fossil fuels from cities is a good way to kick-start action but despite these headline-grabbing proposals the emission reduction targets in the plan lack ambition," he added.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12879566
Phasing out conventional petrol cars (even if only in cities) by 2050 and reducing car travel in general is a great idea, necessary and I believe also quite feasible in theory. But unfortunately I doubt that this will get into everyone's mind if petrol prices won't rise sharply.