Rome, Italy To Ban All Oil-Burning Vehicles By 2024

By  Amanda Froelich Truth Theory

The city of Rome, Italy, is going green. On Tuesday, Mayor Virginia Raggi announced that by 2024, the city will ban diesel cars. She wrote on Facebook, ”If we want to intervene seriously, we have to have the courage to adopt strong measures.” The announcement was made shortly after a court in Germany ruled that cities can ban the most heavily polluting diesel cars from their streets.

According to industry figures, approximately two-thirds of the 1.8 million new cars sold in Italy last year were diesel. Because there are no major industries in Rome, nearly all of the air pollution is from motor vehicles.

This isn’t the first time Rome has tried to limit pollution by restricting types of cars. Quite regularly, the city tries to ban older, more polluting vehicles from roads on the days when pollution reaches critical levels. Another tactic employed by the city is to allow only cars whose number plates end in either odd or even numbers to circulate on alternate days. Both are lightly enforced by police, however.

One of the reasons Raggi seeks to ban diesel vehicles is because pollution from combustion engines damages Rome’s many ancient outdoor monuments. In fact, a study published last year by a branch of the culture ministry concluded that 3,600 stone monuments and 60 bronze sculptures are at risk or serious deterioration — and air pollution is to blame.

Before the German court’s ruling on Tuesday, officials in Milan already announced plans to make the city diesel-free by 2030.

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Source: Auto Blog

Image Credit: Wikimedia