8 November 2007

NZ's car fleet too dirty for Europe

The Government should be embarrassed that New Zealand has one of the dirtiest car fleets in the OECD, and that about 16 percent of the petrol fleet would not be allowed on the road in Europe or most parts of North America, the Green Party says.

A survey released by Zero Emissions Limited exposes one of New Zealand's dirty secrets-that New Zealand has a serious vehicle emissions problem, and is lagging way behind the rest of the world in addressing this problem, Green's Associate Transport spokesperson Sue Kedgley said today.

"We are one of the only Western countries in the world that doesn't have something as basic as metered tailpipe emissions testing during Warrant of Fitness checks.

"I hope the Government will not bow to lobbying by the Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association over the imminent vehicle exhaust emissions rule-a move that would see us fall even further behind with the task of cleaning up our fleet and lowering our total emissions.

"The unregulated import environment has seen our vehicle fleet continue to age on average, and average vehicle engine sizes continue to grow. Both of these have contributed to make private vehicle transport one of the fastest growing sector for Greenhouse gas emissions.

"It is simply not credible for the Prime Minister to claim that New Zealand is one of the most sustainable nations on earth, and committed to carbon neutrality, when we have such a dirty car fleet, no credible emissions test during warrant of fitness testing, and when the Government continues to drag its feet when it comes to a rule that would limit the importation of vehicles so dirty, no other OECD country would allow on their roads," Ms Kedgley says.

ENDS

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