Diesel-powered cars and light trucks, still a small percentage of the vehicles on the roads in the US, are increasing in popularity with each passing year. But on December 1st Reuters reported that in France, authorities want to phase out the use of diesel fuel for passenger cars and will put in place a system to identify the most polluting vehicles.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls was quoted as saying “In France, we have long favored the diesel engine. This was a mistake, and we will progressively undo that, intelligently and pragmatically.” According to the Reuters report, about 80 percent of French motorists drive diesel-powered cars. 80 percent!
Next year, the French government will launch a car identification system that will rank vehicles by the amount of pollution they emit, making it possible for local authorities to limit city access for the dirtiest cars.
Hewing to an approach that has long defined French social policy, the Prime Minister indicated that taxation would be implemented to steer drivers toward more ecological choices. Currently, there are tax advantages to using diesel in France, and policy-makers now seek to reduce or eliminate make these advantages.
In a related plan that sounds somewhat similar to the recent “Cash for Clunkers” program here, France’s Energy Minister announced earlier this year that drivers scrapping diesel-powered cars to buy an electric one would be entitled to a bonus of up to 10,000 euros (equal to about $13,500).