What’s this obsession with diesels engines? I didn’t even think they were that bad. With today’s technology and the collective pollution of planes and boats and horrendous factories everywhere cars seem a minor issue compared.
Is it just to tax them more for more money and to make us think they care?
No, I think there are statistics which show so many people die per year or have respiratory illness because of pollution from diesel cars. A third of private cars and 95% of vans in the city where I live are diesel. That alongside the ferries, cargo ships and cruiseships puts us well up in the top twenty German cities with polluted air. We are on the coast and regularly swept clean by storms and gales, yet still have too much Nitrogen Oxide in the air. Yes, there are exaggerations e.g. people point out where the monitoring stations are placed - next to the road and further away from the harbour. Makes cars look bad and the ships not quite so bad. Plus some claim that „Stickoxid“ etc. have always been present to an extent. But, I don’t doubt that the air in the cities is getting worse as more and more vehicles are on the road. Even the internet is having an effect as more and more parcels are being delivered. The streets seem full of delivery vans during the day. Something has to be done, but whereas replacing a small diesel car with an electric one within a couple of years seems possible on a large scale, I don’t see how you do that with lorries, vans and ships in the short term.
Having said that we, our city, are replacing our buses with hybrid or other non polluting ones. That is costly and will take years to replace them all. Some want a ‚blue‘ sign for diesel Euro 6 and upgraded Euro 5 vehicles which will enable modern diesel owners to carry on as before whilst banning older diesels from parts of cities. That suits me as my Merc van and Land Rover Discovery are both Euro 6.
