Climate change and a sustainable transport policy

Abstract

Public policy decisions taken over the last few decades give a strong impression that politicians, perhaps understandably, have been loath to adopt measures which run counter to what they believe people want. That is so even where this preference can be seen to be largely or totally inspired by the public's limited appreciation of the longer-term consequences of the decisions. This is particularly evident in the transport sector where the social, environmental and ecological damage can be considerable. This paper attempts to highlight a disturbing instance of this, where the incompatibility of policies catering for growth in this sector and those intended to deliver a sufficiently adequate response to the prospect of climate change from excessive use of fossil fuels is obvious.