France, yes even France, rethinks low-emissions zones

France wants 66 per cent of new car sales to be electric by 2030, a target that can only be reached if Paris takes the wheel. Picture: AFP

Europeans love climate policies in theory, but they’re discovering that in practice they’re also, well, impractical. The latest example comes from France, where lawmakers across the political spectrum voted this week to remove constraints on urban driving.

France wants 66 per cent of new car sales to be electric by 2030, a target that can only be reached if Paris takes the wheel.

This year the government expanded its low-emission-zones scheme to restrict older gas-powered vehicles from driving in any city with more than 150,000 residents. Violators face hefty fines.

Cue the public backlash, as not everyone in France can afford a shiny new low-emissions car, but most still have to get around town.

The National Assembly got the message and on Wednesday voted 98-51 to scrap the low-emissions zones. The vote added the provision to a larger bill still pending in the Assembly.

It’s no shocker that the insurgent-right National Rally opposed the driving restrictions, but some from the left and Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party also wanted to pump the e-brake on this green scheme.

It “penalises and makes the poorest people in our country feel guilty; this is not acceptable,” said the France Unbowed party, which is normally to the left of Bernie Sanders.

The driving restrictions are among the many coercive components of France’s broader climate agenda.

The government also wants to poke and prod the French into carpooling, taking fewer trips abroad, eating more vegetables and less meat, and using less airconditioning in the summer, among other so-called sobriety measures. Expect more political reversals as the public discovers the real-life consequences of their leaders’ climate-control ambitions.

Wall Street Journal