That’s progress?

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

New London mayor, Conservative Boris Johnson, has scrapped plans by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, to introduce a £25-a-day congestion charge for the most polluting vehicles, saying that this will save legal costs. How that justification is supposed to be better than tackling climate change, who can say? But all the rich Kensington and Chelsea mothers driving little Tarquin and Princess La-la to school every day in cars the size of lorries will be grateful, no doubt. Bonkers Boris has also scrapped a proposal to allow low emission cars free entry to the congestion charge zone.

“I am delighted that we have been able to scrap the £25 charge, which would have hit families and small businesses hardest,’ said Johnson. Who’s he kidding? How many ordinary families do you know who can afford to run one of those ugly metal monsters?

“I believe the proposal would actually have made congestion worse by allowing thousands of small cars in for free,” he said. But Boris—the smaller cars would have had lower emissions and better fuel economy. And because they’re still not cheap enough for adoption by the masses, hybrids and electric cars would not have suddenly appeared in their thousands simply because they were going to be exempt from the congestion charge.

In the real world, most people would love to make savings and be green—but we have to be able to afford the greener cars in the first place. Ironically, the people best placed right now to cut CO2 emissions through the use of hardware measures—hybrid cars, solar panels, wood-burning stoves and cookers—as opposed to the things everyone can do—turning off lights, unplugging instead of using standby buttons, boiling only as much water as needed, and so on—are the rich who enjoy showing off their big cars, big houses, and flying at every available opportunity. Hybrid cars cost thousands more than most of us can afford, and the purchase and installation of a wood-burning cooker can cost well over £7,000 compared to an ordinary gas or electric cooker costing a few hundred pounds.

“We were always confident that our legal case was right and that we would win in the end,” said Andy Goss, managing director of Porsche Cars Great Britain, obviously speaking for the many millions of Porsche owners who stand to benefit. Okay, not millions. Maybe a few thousand. “The charge was clearly unfair and was actually going to increase emissions in London,” he said. “Porsche is proud to have played a decisive role in striking down such a blatantly political tax increase targeting motorists.”

And, of course, when we look at the diverse customer base of Porsche, it isn’t clear at all where the political sympathies of that company lie.

Kensington and Chelsea Council supported Porsche’s legal bid, no surprise there—it’s been true blue since the ladies who lunch at Ascot first emerged from the swamps of Surrey—and Transport for London has been ordered by the High Court to pay the costs incurred by Porsche. The company is to donate the money to the youth charity Skidz. Ah, the little children. Bless them. What an altruistic move, eh?

Let’s not forget, as Porsche basks in the heat of its own exhaust pipes, that TfL is funded by the people’s taxes. So now the people have given loads of money to Porsche even if they don’t drive the company’s cars. Lovely, eh? Under the Conservative administration, Londoners are not only going to see emissions rise, but can be sure that car manufacturers and other big business concerns, and everyone else who’s rich and powerful, will, as always with the Tories, be encouraged and rewarded at the expense not only of the ordinary Joe, but the planet as well.

What were those Londoners who voted for Boris thinking? Was it a case of wanting to pretend the problems would all go away by voting in someone whose belief in climate change, let alone will to tackle it, was always to be questioned? Sadly, it’s likely that London lemmings will rue the day just as much as those who didn’t vote Tory. I’m no enthusiastic advocate of Ken ‘my ego is bigger than those dreadful extra-long buses’ Livingstone, but I believe that his heart was in the right place, most of the time. And he did do, all told, a pretty good job for eight years.

Anyone who thinks the Tories will be the angels running to the rescue come the next General Election, bringing with them renewed economic confidence and prosperity for all, is kidding themselves. They haven’t changed. They’re for the rich. And to hell with the rest of us. The only problem is, the economic model that is their religion—namely rampant, unimpeded capitalism—the redistribution of monies from poor to rich—is as immoral as ever, unsustainable, and incapable of addressing the enormous issues facing the planet. Capitalism eats its own tail and sells its own mother.

Indeed, it is the global free market philosophy and runaway greedy consumerism espoused by the likes of Thatcher and Major, and after them the New Labour crew, that accelerated our race towards extinction, and continue to pick up speed while the contemporary advocates of these ‘values’ busy themselves with paying lip service only to the need for real action.

The rich and big business tend not to give a shit. It’s not often said so starkly, of course, but that doesn’t make it untrue. I’ve never understood it. After all, everyone lives on the same planet. Where are they all going to bugger off to when things get too hot under the collar? They haven’t got a big spaceship tucked away somewhere, have they? Hey, maybe Porsche is making one right now…

categories: healthy planet, in the news, rattle bag