It’s been rather a slow week for Boris-related news (between people either praising his foresight or condemning his latest decisions as his first year in office draws to a close), but an interesting tidbit slipped onto the letters page of the Guardian. With reference to Gordon Brown’s decision to subsidise electric cars, Jenny Jones of the Green Party writes:
I’m not a big fan of Boris Johnson’s plan for electric cars in London, but at least it is a plan with passion. Brown’s plan is puny, with no thought for the bigger picture.
We’ve commented on Boris’s environmental policies here on the site before, and so we’d like to take this opporunity to open up the debate a little. Do you agree with Jenny Jones? Are Boris’s policies more useful than the PM’s when it comes to a green London? Does his recent decision to reduce the size of his environmental office change things at all, or is it truly just a way of streamlining the bureaucracy of City Hall? Let us know in the comments.
The scheme for electric cars is a visionary one, typical of the Mayor. It inspires the imagination, because it looks to the future. The credit crunch has to have restricted many of Boris’s plans. This plan is worth pursuing.
Electric cars are a great idea. Go for it Boris, electric cars and bikes, sounds good to me. In Bruges they have the traffic problem cracked, because there is a one way system and bikes. Just thought I would mention this in case it is helpful. Bruges is picture postcard pretty and perfect, but you come back thrilled with what a fantastic, vital city London is. With all its ancient buildings, Bruges is, dare I say, a tiny bit bland. In London, so many stunning views, the streets imbued with history……. It’s good to be home!
I like the look of the electric car. Boris is probably very committed to environmental issues, but the credit crunch means he has to take some hard decisions.
Good article in the Independent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/mayor-unveils-plan-to-turn-london-into-electric-car-capital-of-europe-1666129.html
Did Gordon pinch this idea off Boris then?
In the film “Blade Runner” they have what look like electric cars, running on overhead cables. Thus the streets are free for pedestrians. That has to be the next step.
This is all rhetoric!
Boris is blowing serious sums of money debendifying, designing unfundable new buses etc and to cover the real issues he just talks and talks and talks. A few thousand electric cars and a few thousand velib bycycles are not going to tackle the serious issues of the day. Why does the press give this guy such an easy ride?