Europeans Say No to Environmentally Friendly Cars

It seems Europeans aren’t drawn to newer, cleaner cars. European lawmakers are considering new rules that would force carmakers to produce greener machines, but the companies say the public isn’t buying the ones they already make.

The amount of carbon dioxide emissions in Europe has risen since 1990, even though cars themselves are cleaner. That’s because there are more cars on the road. There will need to be further reductions in emissions from new vehicles for the region to meet goals set by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but expect a fight from the carmakers.

A group representing the car companies said the slow progress on emissions is “due to strong customer demand for larger and safer vehicles and disappointing consumer acceptance of extremely fuel-efficient cars.” We hear they can still smoke in public in Europe, too.

[Europe Carmakers: Green Car Sales Slow, Houston Chronicle]