Siddharth Gaulee

In the name of health and environmental preservation, Great Britain and France have declared their intentions of removing the combustion engine car from its throne.

The plan, made by both countries, is to ban the sale of gasoline and diesel-powered cars by 2040.

Britain’s motivation is the health of its citizens.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says poor air quality kills 9,000 people each year in the city.

Local plans to help reduce harmful nitrogen oxide pollution include renovation of roads and reprogramming of stoplights.

The government is giving local governments about £255 million to hurry their efforts in infrastructure renovations. 

There are some industry experts who see this plan as plausible. Professor David Bailey, an automotive industry expert at Aston University, said there is enough time for automakers to switch to more efficient cars.

“If enacted, it would send a very clear signal to manufacturers and consumers of the direction of travel and may accelerate a transition to electric cars,” Bailey said in an article by The Guardian.

France wants to enact this ban to help meet its climate change goals.

The plan is set to put France at the forefront of combating climate change, according to Pascal Ganfin, the head of World Wildlife Fund France.

So, all of this money is going toward reinventing the way people travel.

This could be seen as making travel more efficient.

I’m sure when humans switched from the horse and carriage to the automobile, there were skeptics.

This isn’t that argument though. It’s a switch from one type of car to the other.

The British government wants to spend millions on renovating roads and traffic lights to help cut down on air pollution.

For one, how does that help?

Maybe more efficient routes with fewer bends to save on gas.

Why ban the sale of a particular type of car when these infrastructure changes are supposed to help?

Switching over to one particular type of car would take the initiative of most major automakers to produce electric cars.

There are some companies making this move such as Volvo, and Tesla is already pioneering the affordable electric car, but companies such as Toyota and Ford would need to step up to fill in the gaps.

French officials even admit that this would be a tough move for automakers, but they say their country’s car manufacturers are prepared.

Other countries would need to step in too to help boost support.

However, the United States has recently stepped away from climate change regulations.

Conrad Cable, a senior English major, said he’s not sure the United States would be willing to adopt this plan.

“Maybe some states will have taken measures to ban or discourage the use of vehicles, but like plastic bags, I do not think the feds will step in and try to enforce a wholesale ban.”

The switch could happen in countries like France who are serious about climate change, but without support from other prominent nations and big automakers, this ban may fall on deaf ears.