Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Germany's top court has paved the way for major cities to ban diesel vehicles.
Gasoline or diesel. Neither is a good choice to run the engine of a vehicle. Gasoline cars emit more CO2, which is harmful to the environment, while diesel cars produce more nitrogen oxide emissions, which is the main cause of air pollution. But for cities where air pollution is a more immediate issue than global warming, restricting the use of diesel cars could be an option. This may happen in two of the most air-polluted cities in Europe, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf, Germany, where the automotive industry is the driving force of the local economy, after the recent ruling by the Federal Administrative Court. Now, these two heavily industrialized cities have the authority to limit a certain type of vehicles, namely diesel cars, to drive into the city center to curb air pollution.
It’s a big blow to German auto manufacturers not only because a third of cars in Germany run on diesel, but also similar restrictions may be implemented in other German cities and even across Europe. Now they need to make a decision whether to try to sell more gasoline cars or accelerate the development of more environmentally friendly electric or fuel-cell vehicles.
Also, the drivers of diesel cars in those cities face even more serious problems. One is that they may not be able to drive their cars into city centers. Another is that their cars are officially labeled as air-polluters by the court. They will find themselves constantly in the public eye when they drive their environmentally friendlier vehicle on the road and park in front of their house.
Enjoy reading and think what type of vehicle you would drive if you lived in such air-polluted cities.
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