http://virtuousnews.com/2016/01/france-to-pay-its-citizens-11000-to-upgrade-to-electric-vehicles/
Paris has decided to take a step in the right direction. After COP21 and the world's agreement to do anything in their power to limit greenhouse gas emissions and maintain only a 2 degree Celsius temperature, France's government put in place a program to pay people that switch from their gas-guzzling cars to electric and hybrid cars simply to reduce carbon emissions. While programs like this have been put in place before in the United States, they have not been as successful. In France, this program awards these citizens that are switching to electric or hybrid cars a "conversion premium", giving these owners over $11,000 for an electric car and almost $7,500 for a hybrid car. The US, in contrast, only awarded these new owners up to $7,500, and only for completely electric cars.
While this step is encouraging to see, it is obvious that there is much else to be done. While cutting out more carbon-emitting cars with a reward system will solve some parts of the issue, there is much else to be done. There are still a vast number of industrial items that will require oil or require the funds provided by oil companies (like our government). In addition, France cannot be the only one to set up these types of programs, it must be ubiquitous throughout all countries in the world (where it would be feasible). Simply, this cannot be where we stop, it must only be a stepping stone.
Paris has decided to take a step in the right direction. After COP21 and the world's agreement to do anything in their power to limit greenhouse gas emissions and maintain only a 2 degree Celsius temperature, France's government put in place a program to pay people that switch from their gas-guzzling cars to electric and hybrid cars simply to reduce carbon emissions. While programs like this have been put in place before in the United States, they have not been as successful. In France, this program awards these citizens that are switching to electric or hybrid cars a "conversion premium", giving these owners over $11,000 for an electric car and almost $7,500 for a hybrid car. The US, in contrast, only awarded these new owners up to $7,500, and only for completely electric cars.
While this step is encouraging to see, it is obvious that there is much else to be done. While cutting out more carbon-emitting cars with a reward system will solve some parts of the issue, there is much else to be done. There are still a vast number of industrial items that will require oil or require the funds provided by oil companies (like our government). In addition, France cannot be the only one to set up these types of programs, it must be ubiquitous throughout all countries in the world (where it would be feasible). Simply, this cannot be where we stop, it must only be a stepping stone.