It’s good to see that the European Trade Union Confederation has come out against the recent industry vote on CO2 emissions in cars.
The ETUC is “disappointed over the outcome of the vote by the European Parliament Industry Committee because it weakens the proposals aimed at forcing vehicle manufacturers to reduce CO2 emissions from new passenger cars.”

Trade Unions and environmentalist don’t always see eye to eye. It’s all about jobs, which confuses me a bit because we’re not talking about producing fewer cars. The legislation doesn’t aim to limit the number of cars being produced. The issue is all about getting the cars on our roads to be more efficient.

I really can’t see how that leads to job cuts but I’ve heard that in France the unions are siding with the carmakers. It’s all so short sighted. But there is hope - the EUTC says “considerable economic and social benefits can be expected of such legislation, in terms of investments in research and the development of low-carbon technologies, thus helping to create and maintain long-term jobs in Europe’s automotive industry.”

Or as the environmental expert puts it, “the best way to protect the industry’s employment is to promote, as soon as possible, the development of fuel-saving vehicles which meet the needs of consumers with modest incomes.”
By the way Greenpeace has just published a report with more info on this issue. You can get it here.

Talk to anyone with a car these days and you’ll hear complaints about the rising cost of fuel.

The people understand the need to build more efficient cars.

The workers understand that their industry depends on it.

So why won’t the car industry face the truth?