The Bilbao City Hall has launched the Low Emissions Zone in June, although fines are not expected to start to be imposed until September. This measure will limit the entry of old vehicles to the bourgeois esplanade of Bilbao from Monday to Friday, according to EiTB. Petrol vehicles originally registered before the year 2000 or diesel registered before 2006 will not be able to enter, but the measures will be strengthened and only category C or ECO cars will be available by 2030.
The theoretical objectives of this measure are the fight against pollution and climate change, but it has already received criticism from the environmental movement. On the one hand, this measure reinforces the myth of the green car, considering that some cars are cleaned up. The concepts of discharge, car and eco-friendly are incompatible. For example, even though the engine does not emit polluting particles, the friction of the tires generates a lot of polluting particles, and much more than the combustion cars because of the weight of the batteries. In addition, in the case of NO2 particles, which are very harmful to health, an electric car emits 80% of the emissions from a combustion, which means a very low emission reduction.
Something similar happens with greenhouse gases, as electric cars do not directly emit CO2, but both electricity and car production emit several tonnes of CO2, as well as other negative ecological effects.
It will never be ecological to have to move a 1,500 kilogram device to transport a person, even if we draw the car in green
In addition, the car absorbs a high percentage of the public space of the cities (around 70%) and drowns under asphalt, which could be a green environment.
In short, the displacement of an apparatus of 1,500 kilograms to transport a person will never be ecological, even if we draw the car in green.
On the other hand, the classicist tone of the measure has also been criticised by the public. Because if the owner of an old car can approach the center of Bilbao by public transport, why can't an executive that goes to the Iberdrola tower do the same? The car will be a privilege for less and less, but it will not limit the space it occupies in the city.
What do we ecologists propose to do about this? Public transport must be strengthened, cars must be parked by extending the areas of bicycles and pedestrians and cars must be restricted according to needs (neighbours, people with mobility problems…) and not to the economic capacity of the driver.
We want Low Emission Areas, not High Income Areas.