Paul Barker's blog - 9 August: Smoke & mirrors

Date: 09 August 2016   |   Author:

The decision to ban diesels from some London public sector fleets (see our story here) feels like a knee-jerk reaction rather than being based on sound environmental and financial logic.

To my understanding, Euro6 diesels make a massive step forward in terms of local air pollution, and although they're still not perfect, making sure that the fleet is made up of vehicles exhibiting the latest technology would be a positive step.

Fleets, particularly those in the public sector, have to balance a variety of needs - mainly cost-effectiveness and suitability for purpose as well as meeting environmental targets - and as important as the local air quality issue is, this feels like a reaction to an issue rather than a holistic view of what will work best for the organisation. Otherwise, why make a sweeping decision at a time where the issue is in the headlines, when presumably a public body in particular should be constantly reviewing the best way to run its vehicles, taking into account a full range of issues?

Plus, it's worth remembering the reason for drivers being pushed tax-wise towards diesel in the first place, and that's climate change. Yes, local air pollution is a serious issue, and older diesels are a decent-sized part of the cause in cities in particular, but saving lives now at the expense of killing the planet in the longer term, rather than finding a happy medium that doesn't play one off against the other, doesn't seem the preferable way to go.

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