What's the news?
Hamburg has its diesel ban, and now it has a BAN, or a Bureau of Nannyism (an acronym that you'll notice doesn't quite work) award handed out by the Consumer Choice Center (sic). Hamburg will begin to enact its ban on older diesel-engined cars and trucks from specific streets today (Thursday) and the ban encompasses any diesel car which does not conform to Euro6 emissions standards, from 2014 onwards. The ban is waived for residents of those streets, but it's likely to lead to more than a few traffic problems in Hamburg in the next few weeks.
The 'award' from the Consumer Choice Center (spelled that way because in spite of having an office in Brussels, it's actually an American backed group) is clearly an ironic one, and is handed out to highlight "major contributions to advocating limits on consumer choice. This award serves to recognise extraordinary abilities in disregarding consumers and evidence-based public policy."
The Consumer Choice Center's Managing Director Fred Roeder explains that only a few municipal governments have managed to discriminate that many consumers at once: "Over 200,000 local diesel drivers will have to find their way through Hamburg without being allowed on two of the main traffic arteries of the bespoke city. For decades consumers were incentivised to buy diesel cars and now suddenly get punished by regulators for following their recommendations. The war against diesel drivers is a war against consumers and will not help the environment. Health experts such as the previous president of the German Society of Pneumology even question if diesel emissions play a significant role in affecting people's health," said Roeder. "By awarding Hamburg with the tongue-in-cheek BAN Award we want to highlight how much the diesel driving ban is an infringement on consumer choice."
It is worth noting, just for the record, that the Consumer Choice Center is allied to (and draws much of its funding from) the US-based Students For Liberty, a right-wing, libertarian think-tank which in turn draws much of its funding from the likes of the Cato Institute and the oil-billionaire Koch family. While Hamburg might be jumping the gun a bit with its diesel ban (the diesel crisis is far more nuanced and complex than something that can be resolved with a simple ban) perhaps it's not surprising that a lobby group funded by big oil isn't so keen on it...