David King, the former chief scientific adviser has admitted
it was wrong to cut fuel duty on diesel vehicles after being hoodwinked by the car industry.
He said the government at the time wanted to encourage more people to drive diesel cars because they were said to emit less carbon dioxide than petrol vehicles. He said he was aware of warnings that diesel vehicles produced more toxic nitrogen dioxide, but he and the government had wrongly assumed this could be controlled by new technology and European regulations.
“I was in very close contact with the industry that was producing these catalyst trap systems and I was convinced that they could manage the problem,” he said. “What we know now, from the Department for Transport emission results from very extensive tests of vehicles, is that a large number of diesel-driven vehicles on the road in London are emitting more than 12 times the Euro 6 limit.”
Asked whether he was misled by the car industry, King cited the Volkswagen emissions scandal. “They [VW] were designing into the engine of vehicles a system that would in effect produce a very good result on the test bed and then deteriorate when it was on the road,” he said.
But King said all diesel car manufacturers “are managing a system whereby the test bed produces the results they want”.
Of course, this justification will carry no weight for those who deny the overwhelming evidence that our emissions of CO2 are destabilising the climate. Such people tend to fall into either the "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" camp, or are conspiracy theorists. Either way, no new evidence will ever induce them to change their minds, unlike David King!