Suzuki's 2010 Kizashi Will Start under $19,000
Activists angered by Porsche’s judicial review of London c-charge

Activists angered by Porsche’s judicial review of London c-charge

Viknesh Vijayenthiran April 8th, 2008 Viknesh Vijayenthiran By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Author April 8th, 2008
  • Articles Contributed: 3146
  • Comments Posted: 0
  • Leaderboard Rank: N/A

December 31st, 1969 Environmental groups have criticized Porsche’s decision to challenge London’s new congestion charge, claiming the carmaker should drop its judicial review and focus on building cleaner cars. Leading the charge is activist group Friends of the Earth (FoE), who claim the majority of Londoners support an increased congestion charge for the most polluting vehicles. FoE's Executive Director Tony Juniper said in recent statement that “people are recognizing the urgency of cutting carbon dioxide emissions” and that “Porsche has clearly misunderstood public opinion.” Porsche on the other hand insists the new tax on motorists is not only unfair, but it’s also a disproportionate and illegal use of power by London Mayor Ken Livingstone. Porsche’s UK manager Andy Goss explains that the judicial review is “about protecting London and Londoners from a new tax that will not only fail to reduce CO2 emissions in central London, but also increase congestion and damage air quality.” Many believe the new scheme will have little effect on overall emissions and that a greater focus on commercial pollution is needed. Porsche has until October to overturn the new congestion charge and has already asked the court to expedite the judicial proceedings in the hope that a result can be made quickly.
Activists angered by Porsche’s judicial review of London c-charge

Activists angered by Porsche’s judicial review of London c-charge

Enlarge Photo

Environmental groups have criticized Porsche’s decision to challenge London’s new congestion charge, claiming the carmaker should drop its judicial review and focus on building cleaner cars. Leading the charge is activist group Friends of the Earth (FoE), who claim the majority of Londoners support an increased congestion charge for the most polluting vehicles.

FoE's Executive Director Tony Juniper said in recent statement that “people are recognizing the urgency of cutting carbon dioxide emissions” and that “Porsche has clearly misunderstood public opinion.”

Porsche on the other hand insists the new tax on motorists is not only unfair, but it’s also a disproportionate and illegal use of power by London Mayor Ken Livingstone. Porsche’s UK manager Andy Goss explains that the judicial review is “about protecting London and Londoners from a new tax that will not only fail to reduce CO2 emissions in central London, but also increase congestion and damage air quality.”

Many believe the new scheme will have little effect on overall emissions and that a greater focus on commercial pollution is needed. Porsche has until October to overturn the new congestion charge and has already asked the court to expedite the judicial proceedings in the hope that a result can be made quickly.

Tags:

Posted in: Porsche, News


Comments (6 total)

Meet the top commenters on the Leaderboard

  1. By chris #1, Posted: 4/8/2008

    ok, well lets get something straight andy; the c-charge certainly wont be INCREASING congestion, or pollution. stick to the truth. the truth is that it wont have much of an effect at all. those who can afford the large cars can afford the large tax. and will continue to do so. that tiny percentage of londoners driving porche cayennes in the down-town area will not stop doing so, and even if a few of them do stop, this will not have the slightest effect on emissions.

    If these tax dollars are used to subsidize programs to retrofit existing industry with scrubbers, then YES, the program may take 10% or more of the NOXIOUS fumes out of the air, but carbon is carbon. if you want energy, then you're getting carbon. thats the long and short of it. simple as pie.

    but dont go around saying non- sense like "this will only make things worse". no it wont. You're making things worse. stop talking.

  2. By Gus #2, Posted: 4/8/2008

    Yeah, but there are probably a lot of people who have cars that fall into the c-charge category but don't have a lot of money.
    Those people will have to walk around in the London rain, I guess, while the rich will have more places to park and drive.
    I don't think anyone thinks this will change the world pollution wise, but greedy politicians and eco-mentalists everywhere are looking to see how far it can go there, and if it can be done everywhere.
    it's the same here in Southern California with off-road trails, if the environmentalists had their way, every single trail would be open to hiking only, no wheeled vehicles of any kind (yes, even bicycles and wheelchairs are banned in some places). Now, if the off-road coalitions didn't fight (like Porsche is doing) to keep some of these trails open (and the fire departments love off-roaders, since they keep all the fire access trails and roads clear of vegitation) they would all be closed eventually, and if you want to see any of the back country, you better be fit and have a few days of hiking time.

    It's about the principle of the whole thing, and for that I applaud Porsche for fighting a fight no one else seems to want to fight.

  3. By chris #3, Posted: 4/8/2008

    oh dont worry gus, i'm criticizing this douche from porsche for making retarded claims that have no justification what so ever. way to take the wind out of your own sails.

    i dont think i agree with your comment about the people having these cars but not being able to afford the charges. i believe there was an article on this site a while back saying that there are only 600 or something cars registered in all of britain that would be taxed under this scheme. 600. if you take 600 of the most elite britons, do you think they could afford a 50$ a day tax on those days which they chose to drive the porsche to work?

    It's a rediculously small number of people who will be effected by this law. I really do mean it when i say that london has a culture that no american could actually understand. i can barely understand it as a canadian. the only people on this side of the atlantic that could understand it is some one from manhattan. thats the only kind of person who could understand it.

    the majority of people live in the city, and take subways, buses, or cabs to work. some who live on the out skirts of the city will have enough room on the side of the street to park a city car, something like a smart or a fiesta, or a panda or something else with a cutesy name like that. it is only those people who live outside of london, who would even have a place to park a large vehicle like the ones this law will effect. and if those people are commuting to downtown london, i'm going to guess that these people are making the decision to drive that vehicle to work instead of one of the other smaller vehicles that they certainly own or could afford.

    the reason why so many londoners will agree to this kind of law is because they probably have a hatred of the larger vehicles because they congest their roads (listen to Clarkston talk about driving his GT40 through london) needlessly. just wait; i can see the day when parts of london's core streets are shut down completely to vehicular traffic except emergency vehicles. Universities do it all the time. there are a couple streets in montreal that are set up the same way. and im certain parts of rome, milan, and nice are probably set up the same way.

  4. By auto news #4, Posted: 4/8/2008

    still love the truck anyway

  5. By HECTOR #5, Posted: 4/8/2008

    What Gus said with a cherry on top.

  6. By germandude #6, Posted: 4/9/2008

    Friends of the Eart HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Post a Comment

Post anonymously
Sign In |
will stay private
your 'posted by' name will link to the URL

More from MotorAuthority

More from High Gear Media