Diesel Drivers Unite! They are Banning Older Diesel Vehicles.

If you don’t think it can happen to you, take a look at this! Sure, it might be happening halfway around the world, but when it happens there, who’s to say that the thought process can’t migrate this way? New Jersey has already banned modification, Illinois is proposing it, OEM are trying to use a software Copyright to prevent you from working on your vehicle, there is a bill in the UK right now banning all non ultra low emission vehicles by 2040, and Paris is banning diesels. Now the latest is New Delhi, India, is banning the use of diesel vehicles that are ten-years-old or older on Delhi’s roads.

Experts believe that this is only a step towards a solution to the city’s air pollution problem. One reason many feel that older vehicles are the target, is because it is easy to segregate older vehicles. This is because the owners are individuals, not corporations or large lobbying entities. As much as some feel that diesel cars are the problem, the real challenge actually lies in regulating polluting industries and real estate companies who operate as powerful lobbies. Kind of sounds like a previous Clunker law that we found out didn’t work. Big companies got “credits” for minuscule attempts.

According to Delhi traffic police, around 80,000 vehicles travel through Delhi every day between from 8 pm and 6 am. Environmentalists feel that these diesel vehicles contribute to as much as 60 percent of the main air pollutants in the atmosphere. They say that this is because many of them do not adhere to emission standards. This occurs when many of them operate their vehicles on a mixture of kerosene and diesel in an attempt to save money.

“The NGT (National Green Tribunal) verdict will reduce the pollution level in the city. Now, Euro II and Euro I cars, which are very polluting, will be phased out. But this is not enough. A lot has to be done because there are no soft options left for the city,” Shirin Bithal, research associate at the air pollution unit of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said.

The national capital was able to arrest and lower air pollution with its first phase of action directed by the Supreme Court in 2001, when the CNG program was launched. But it could not sustain these gains and air pollution levels are rising again. Growing pollution especially from vehicles and delayed action have enhanced the public health risk.

The National Green Tribunal wants incentives for those who stop using their diesel vehicles that are more than 10 years of age. Suspending its April 7 ban for two weeks, the NGT on Monday asked the Delhi government and central ministries to submit suggestions on benefits that can be provided to those selling or scrapping vehicles that are prohibited to run in Delhi-NCR (WAIT, WHAT, THEY’LL GET CREDITS!)

While truckers threatened (and later withdrew) a strike, there has been resentment among diesel car owners with some of them saying the ban infringes upon their right to ownership. Does that sound familiar?!