COMMENT Breathing in exhaust fumes in central London as I cycle to work, I can easily understand why carmakers get so much of the blame for global warming. Few people own anything that produces more visible – and smelly – pollution than their car, so it is no surprise that public and political pressure is focused on making them cleaner.
But just because cars churn out nasty gases does not mean that everything done to make their engines produce less of the carbon dioxide responsible for global warming is automatically a good thing. This point seems to have been lost on environmental lobby groups and politicians during the past two years of near-panic over the twin problems of soaring oil prices and mounting evidence that the planet is heating up.
