As new figures showed sales of 4x4 vehicles dipping for the first time, Greenpeace urged Tony Blair to enact proposals to tax polluting vehicles more heavily. A total of 105,196 new SUVs were sold in the first seven months of 2006 compared with 106,732 in January-July 2005.
Ken Livingstone recently proposed charging 4x4 owners £25 a day for the London congestion charge, while the Commons' Environmental Audit Committee this month suggested £1800 road tax for gas guzzlers. The possibility of these charges appears to have slowed the trend for polluting vehicles, but Greenpeace is worried that the fashion for gas guzzlers will again take root if the proposals are not enacted.
Emily Armistead of Greenpeace said: "The most polluting vehicles, like many makes of 4x4, are spewing huge quantities of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere causing climate change. It's encouraging that sales of 4x4s have slowed for the first time, it shows Britain may at last be turning its back on climate-wrecking cars as scientists warn that global warming poses a huge threat to the planet. But tens of thousands of urban 4x4s are still sold every year in Britain. Tony Blair should enact proposals from backbench MPs to tax these polluting vehicles more heavily so they are driven off our roads completely."
Greenpeace's gas guzzler campaign saw fake wheel-clamps put on polluting 4x4s. Last year thirty Greenpeace volunteers shut down the Range Rover assembly line in Solihull. Last month Greenpeace released a controversial film advertisement designed to satirise manufacturers' ads that paint 4x4s as aspirational vehicles.
Ken Hurst, editorial director of The Manufacturer Magazine, told PA: "It may be that 4x4s are going out of fashion. Possibly children who once saw the vehicles as status symbols now feel ashamed when they are dropped off at the school gates."
For more contact Greenpeace press office - 020 7865 8255
Part of the Greenpeace Motor Show blog
Despite my fears of being blugeoned to death by furious Top Gear fans with the mocking, satanic laughter of JC (he's not the messiah...) ringing in my ears and various carbon oxides burning in my nostrils, it would appear that the motor show is survivable, with the correct guide. So, as a mark of my gratitude I've decided to let the remaining twenty six mistakes in their token 'green' page remain uncorrected.
Part of the Greenpeace Motor Show blog
OK, I've finished my yoga session, there's a whale pod on my I-pod and the valium's kicking in nicely. I think I may be ready to have another look at the Motor Show Survival Guide's take on 'Going Green'.
Today I picked up a free copy of the British International Motor Show Survival Guide. How to survive the motor show. Many of you may be thinking this is typical macho petrolhead bullshit, but the motor show is a pretty hostile environment. It's extraordinarily hot, for a start, and it's not exactly a vegetarian's paradise. The stench of burning entrails (burgers to you) is everywhere, mingling with the contrails from City Airport and the exhaust fumes from a dozen SUVs and some Mazdas. Plus the whole place has that wierd new-car-interior smell, which just has to be at least mildly toxic.
So, what with the easy meat having been thoroughly chewed and spat out, and my correspondance with the ex-membership secretary of the Discovery Owners Club currently being sub judice, I'm going to be uncharacteristically generous and give some space to a professional rival. Take it away, Motoring Journalist and Editor Peter Wadsworth....
Part of the Greenpeace Motor Show blog
After a sustained period of whinging, it's time to have a look at some of the good things on display at the motor show. Whilst most car journeys really ought to be by foot, cycle or public transport, there will be a place for private motor vehicles for quite a while yet, and if you look hard enough, the show has some useful ideas for how we can keep driving in a non-Kamikaze fashion.
Part of the Greenpeace Motor Show blog
I haven't checked whether it was another record breaker, but today was bloody hot. Feeling somewhat grubby when I arrived at the motor show, I decided to take a stroll over to the Galaxy First Class Lounge to pay a visit to my barber, Amir Dastgir.
Amir is a First Class barber, it's written all over his face in the shape of a beard designed by Euclid and laser sculpted by NASA. So precisely defined it's got a ten page entry in the OED, so sharp it cuts itself. I relax into the reclining chair, gazing up at the racing car nailed twenty feet up on the wall, and within minutes the only discernable difference between my head and a baby's bottom is a pair of eyebrows.
Part of the Greenpeace Motor Show blog
So, to round up the SUV rant, what's the overall picture here? Well it's more Bosch than Constable, I'm afraid.
Despite a few little green shoots coming up through the tarmac, the dominant impression is that 4x4s are set to continue grabbing market share for a bit longer. The reason why I think this, in flagrant contradiction to the motor show guide, is that just about every manufacturer is now producing them.
Part of the Greenpeace Motor Show blog
Sunday finds me in a forgiving mood. There's good in everyone, even Geoff, and today seems like an appropriate day to put a little balance into the debate.
So, here goes, 10 good things about Land Rover ...
Welcome to my weekend. Today is the start of my SUV (stupid ugly vehicle) rant. I'm afraid it may spill over into next week, but what with this weather I've built up quite alot of steam that needs letting off. Next time I find myself blogging in a good mood, we'll have a look at the positive technical developments in low emissions technology, but not today. Today we're documenting the deal we're getting in exchange for our future, and it's a shitty deal. Next time you laugh at the Manahata indians for selling their island for $24 dollars, remember that we're busy swapping the most beautiful planet in the known universe for some of the stupidest, ugliest bits of bad design the industrial era has seen.
