Eco groups call for drastic emission cuts
The Age
Saturday July 11, 2009
ENVIRONMENTAL groups want Australia to adopt European-level mandatory targets for greenhouse gas emissions that would see levels emitted from Australian-made cars slashed in half.The Australian Conservation Foundation has called for mandatory standards of about 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre."We're still driving extremely fuel-inefficient cars here," campaigner Monica Richter said. "Consumers are voting with the hip pockets for more fuel-efficient cars."The campaigns director for Environment Victoria, Mark Wakeham, said fuel-consumption targets should be set at 5.0 litres per 100 kilometres and emissions standards set at about 135g/km of CO2, about half the levels of current Australian-built cars.But the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) chief executive, Andrew McKellar, said while the industry was actively committed to pursuing significant fuel and CO2 reductions for new cars, the impact on manufacturing jobs must be fully assessed first."You can't just rush into these things where there are major investments tied up with all of this and major job implications and implications for industry ... without understanding what the impact will be," Mr McKellar said.A study of overseas standards would need to ensure the types of vehicles measured and fuel consumption test protocols were relevant, he said.The heads of Australian state and federal governments decided recently to assess the impact that mandatory or voluntary targets would have on the car industry and how targets would fit with the Federal Government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. It's the latest step in a drawn-out public consultation process that's been going for almost a year.But a car-company executive called for greater action: "Australia really needs to have an integrated policy on vehicle emissions that encourages people to buy vehicles that are fuel-efficient."That included uniform national stamp duty, registration based on CO2 emissions and a scheme to get clunkers off the road. -- ANDREW HEASLEY
© 2009 The Age
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