The UK city of Oxford, home to the the oldest university in the English-speaking world, has announced a plan to become the world's first carbon emission-free city by 2035, according to a report by ScienceAlert.
As city authorities tell it, Oxford carbon emissions are "dangerously high."
"Toxic and illegal air pollution in the city center is damaging the health of Oxford's residents," one of the Oxford City Council board members, John Tanner, said.
The city and the university will ban all fossil-fuel powered engines. The council wrapped the move in Orwellian rhetoric reminiscent of the British author's novel 1984 which depicts totalitarian communism.
"All of us who drive or use petrol or diesel vehicles through Oxford are contributing to the city's toxic air. Everyone needs to do their bit — from national government and local authorities, to businesses and residents — to end this public health emergency," Tanner said, cited by ScienceAlert.
The center of old Oxford town is supposed to become a zero-emission zone by 2035, but the center of London is supposed to get rid of fossil fuel engines by 2020. London residents would, however, still be allowed to drive downtown by paying an ecological fee. With Oxford, that would be a no-no.
The UK itself is not going out of its way to ban fossil-fuel-powered cars, as a nation-wide ban on selling new gas- and diesel-powered cars is not expected to come into effect until 2040.
Caring about the planet's ecology is cool, and, if necessary, forcing people into a "green" submission will certainly be worth the trouble.
