Denmark to ban petrol and diesel car sales by 2030
At the start, I thought these announcements and laws (eg Scotland) to ban ICE vehicles by 20XX were cheap politics. A promise Someone Else will deliver later, with credit due to you now.<p>I&#x27;ve come around though. I think all the bastardized carbon accounting, market based solutions are on average quite bad. The idea of a neutral, &quot;market decides&quot; policy is a myth. These things are complex, and that compmexity is an opportunity for regulatory capture.<p>For example, most European vehicle tax codes have been altered to reflect emissions.<p>The upshot is that (1) new vehicles are 20% ish more efficient (2) older vehicles become uneconomical faster (3) people who drive older vehicles clear pay more tax. (4) Switching from a 10yr old ICE hatchback to a new one can easily save you $500 pa. Going from a new &quot;efficient&quot; ICE to an electric will save you a fraction of that.<p>New car buyers pay less tax, old cars pay more.  Vehicles hit junkyards faster. Manufacturers sell more cars. Over a decade we&#x27;ll see a minor (maybe 20% at best) decrease in carbon emissions.<p>Very little environmental juice for a lot of poor and middle class squeeze. A nice little sales boost for VW.<p>There&#x27;s a lot to be said for the simplicity of an outright ban. Ban ICEs. Ban commercial fishing. It worked for CFCs and market hunting. In retrospect, no one wishes we had split hairs with a complicated policy.