by Lorraine Chow
France plans to end the sale of vehicles powered by
gasoline and diesel by 2040, environment minister Nicolas Hulot said.
Hulot made the announcement
Thursday in Paris as he launched the country's new Climate Plan to accelerate the transition to clean energy
and to meet its targets under the Paris climate agreement.
To ease the transition, Hulot
said the French government will offer tax incentives to replace fossil-fuel
burning cars with clean alternatives.
"The government will
offer each French person a bonus to replace their diesel car dating before 1997
or petrol from before 2001 by a new or second-hand vehicle," he said.
"The target is a tough
one," he noted, "but France wants to become the No. 1 green
economy."
Hulot is a former TV host of
nature documentaries and a popular environmental activist. His appointment as
ecology minister was seen as a major "coup" by French President Emmanuel
Macron's new administration.
The new environment minister
cited the example of a "European maker" that decided to embrace the
electrification of vehicles.
That was a clear reference
to Volvo, which announced Wednesday that every car it launches from 2019
will have an electric motor, marking a "historic end" to the
internal combustion engine. Volvo is the first mainstream carmaker to commit to
phasing out vehicles powered solely by fossil fuels.
France is not alone in
outlawing gas guzzlers. Norway is banning the sale of new gasoline- and
diesel-powered cars in 2025. Germany plans to ban the internal combustion
engine by 2030. India also intends to be a "100 percent electric vehicle
nation" by 2030.
As Bloomberg noted, France intends to end oil and gas exploration in French territory, eliminate
coal-fired power plants by 2022 and encourage homeowners to produce their own
energy. It also aims to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050.
"France's pledge to move
beyond dirty fossil fuel-powered cars shows that bold national commitments to
clean transportation are possible," Sierra Club Electric Vehicles
Initiative Director Gina Coplon-Newfield said. "By making the switch to
electric vehicles that will increasingly plug into renewable sources of
electricity, France is decelerating the climate crisis and accelerating its
commitment to the Paris Agreement.
"While Donald Trump takes the low
road by withdrawing from the Paris agreement, world leaders like Macron are
taking the high road, knowing that clean energy is not only the economic choice,
it's the responsible choice for communities and the environment. U.S. policy
makers should follow France's lead so that we reach the end of the road for
dirty transportation."
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