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Greenpeace presses for fuel efficiency law

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Nationwide awareness campaign launched

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

RISING CONCERN: A Greenpeace activist with a balloon attached to a car (not seen in picture) as part of a campaign to create awareness about the rising level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the increasing number of vehicles on road, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: Greenpeace on Tuesday launched a campaign demanding mandatory fuel efficiency norms for the car industry in India.

It organised a demonstration at Connaught Place here to send out a reminder that increasing carbon dioxide emissions were contributing to the climate change. As part of the campaign, Greenpeace has launched a nationwide awareness and petitioning drive to pressure the Bureau of Energy Efficiency to draft fuel-efficiency legislation.

“While consumers are aware of and even troubled by the noxious fumes and the pollution that vehicular emissions cause, they are not completely aware of the fact that vehicles emit carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas which is the biggest contributor to global warming,” said Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Soumyabrata Rahut.

The Indian Automobile Association rates India as the second fastest growing market for cars globally, which will lead to an incredible surge in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission over the next few years.

“The simplest first step the government and industry can take together to combat the twin threat of climate change and energy security is to implement a fuel efficiency law now,” said Mr. Rahut.

India imports 78 per cent of its crude oil needs, which will rise to 94 per cent by 2030 as estimated by the International Energy Agency. “India’s need for energy efficiency renewable and environmental conservation has gained greater urgency in the light of the spiralling price of crude oil,” added Mr. Rahut.

Automobile manufacturers passed their vehicles off as “green” by following Euro emission standards, a Greenpeace release said. “The onus is on the manufacturers to deploy technology to drastically reduce emissions. As a first step, the manufactures should label their cars and disclose information about their vehicles’ contribution to climate change. In today’s time, consumers buying cars should be aware of the environmental impacts of their purchase decision.”

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