Miguel Sánchez
The management of the common - and the prohibition of combustion vehicles is - must be done based on feasible realities and not hypothetical speculations or vain hopes. That said, the transition to electric mobility It is a fact - whether you like it or not - that is unappealable. Likewise, this process does not come from the hand of subversive policies, social movements or environmental groups because, whether one wants to see reality or not, German capital has been investing in electrification for years out of its own desire and taste.
And, without a doubt, it has a very different agenda compared to that of environmental groups. In this sense, a character so little suspected of being a Greenpeace activist Like Elon Musk, he has also made the electric car one of his flags - for years - without any state administration imposing it on him by decree.
That is to say, when we talk about the end of combustion, the end of automobiles as we generally know them, we are not talking about a process directed by ordinary citizens but by managers addicted to business as a constant way of life. All this to reach the conclusion that, when certain voters roar against pedestrian areas or bike lanes, they would do well to rethink against whom they should direct their most ardent defenses of oil.
This being the case, it is striking to see how the European People's Party - the majority in the European Parliament - is now filtering out, just a few months before the elections to the Union Parliament, his possible intention to reverse the ban on marketing combustion engines from 2035 expressed in an internal draft. Personally, a good initiative in light of the enormous doubts in electricity regarding its sustainability, implementation deadlines and short-term maximalist objectives.
However, it is very difficult to believe in certain promises when they come from someone who tries to play judge and party in an already confusing panorama, where it is no longer known what is really a sincere environmental interest and what corresponds to new businesses. for various companies.
In any case, there is also hope and, who knows, maybe this will open now a necessary gap to rethink the ban relative to 2035. One thing does not eliminate the other and, at the end of the day, in politics the result should always be prioritized over whoever signs it.
REVERSE THE BAN ON COMBUSTION VEHICLES: LITTLE REASONS, BUT REASONS IN THE END
Under this panorama, there is a small hope of being able to reopen the debate around the future European ban on gasoline and diesel. Of course, beyond what the European People's Party may undertake - as confirmed by telephone from Genoa 13, they have not yet finalized their program for the June 9 elections - what is a fact is the modification of Euro 7 during last fall.
Led by the current presidency held by Spain, it has managed to bring industrial powers such as France or Germany to an agreement unifying emissions tables; That is to say, it is technologically neutral, it does not bet a priori on any specific engine.
A small respite for automobile manufacturers - although very severe on commercial vehicles - who will now have a little more time in order to adapt the level of emissions from their combustion engines instead of betting, in desperation, on the complete electrification of their ranges including - and this is the key - their economic models if this still exists in the dealerships.
By the way, the pollution generated by the tires; something shared by electric and combustion vehicles.
The truth is, another more than meager point in order to add hope in reversing what was planned for 2035. However, in the political negotiations around electrification deadlines Anything can happen because, just by taking a quick look at the extractive industry, we see how it has serious problems regarding the obtaining of minerals or the recycling of batteries.
THE TYPE OF USE SHOULD BE ABOVE THE TYPE OF MOTORIZATION
In short, jumping over the noise of acronyms or the politics of "and you more" The math of the pantry prevails: you cannot cook faster than you shop. A maxim with which electrification and its deadlines should be rethought, leaving aside the emissions inherent to combustion -manufacturing also pollutes, let's not forget-, it is much more sustainable to create models designed to last - and maintain them - than to assemble others destined for a short life, at a frenetic commercial pace.
As long as this is not put at the center of the debate, many of us will find it impossible to digest electrification as an environmental policy; in fact we will think, with more intensity, that this is another business born without taking into account the optimization of natural resources.
In short: it is more ecological for us to give a long-term and rational use to a combustion vehicle - especially now, with the possible window of opportunities opened by the Cepsa biofuels or Repsol- than to encourage the public to renew every little its electric model. Nothing that we have not already said before in this same headline and, apparently, nothing that is still being talked about in the European institutions. We'll see what happens.
Cover image of Thomas en Pixabay.
