EU cuts Co2 Targets to help Euro car makers

In an astonishing outbreak of common sense, EU negotiators last night agreed a deal to ease the draconian Co2 targets for EU car manufacturers. Originally, EU car makers had to meet the new regulations by 2012, but have now won a concession to hit 65% of target by 2012, 75% by 2013, 80% by 2014 and 100% by 2015.

This scaling back of the targets was achieved after Germany objected to the original proposals. As Europe’s biggest car maker, and the maker of some of the highest emission cars made in the EU, the likes of Mercedes and Porsche objected to the regulations, citing their difficulty in achieving the unrealistic, and some would say unnecessary, targets. In particular they objected to the huge mountain they had to climb in comparison to Peugeot/Citroen and Fiat who already make smaller, and therefore cleaner, cars.

Mercedes Efficiency - Lower Co2 Targets help manufacturers in Germany

The EU is committed under the Kyote Treaty to reducing Co2 levels by 8% by 2012, but is aiming for a 20% cut by 2020. These targets would mean German makers reducing the Co2 output of their cars by nearly 50% in comparison to the 15% cut needed by Fiat and Peugeot/Citroen. The regulations affect all EU car makers.

I’m all for making cars cleaner. City pollution has been an issue for decades, and anything sensible that can be done to reduce the pollution emitting from cars is eminently sensible. But this isn’t about pollution. Its about the obsession with reducing Co2 output, which is far from proven to have a detrimental effect on the planet. After all, even though cars are estimated to be responsible for 10% of man-made greenhouse gasses, the total of man-made greenhouse gases is less than 3% of all greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Which means that even if we made all vehicles zero emissions, we would reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by 0.3%. And by reducing the Co2 output of cars made in the EU by 2020, we will see a reduction so small as to be practically unmeasurable.

Is it worth the cost?