UK to Ban Sales of New Petrol, Diesel Cars, Vans From 2030

Parler CEO Defends Free Speech: ‘It’s Not Against the Law to Have Those Opinions’

The CEO of Parler, which has been described as an alternative to Twitter, defended free speech in an interview on Tuesday in the midst of mainstream media-led criticism of the social media platform. “People say crazy things all the time,” and “it’s not against the law to have those opinions,” Parler CEO John Matze told Fox News. He was responding to a question about why establishment media outlets have taken an increasingly critical tone against the platform. “I always ask them, ‘What do you think of the First Amendment? Do you believe that we should have somebody in New York, let’s say in the middle of Times Square, telling you what you can and cannot say?’” Matze said. “Because that’s what these companies are doing.” “I don’t know why they’re…

Sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned from 2030, 10 years ahead of the government’s original plan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

But hybrid cars and vans that can drive a significant distance with no carbon emissions can be sold until 2035.

Johnson said the government will invest £1.3 billion ($1.45 billion) to boost electric vehicle charge points in homes, streets, and on motorways; £582 million ($651 million) in grants to make it cheaper to buy zero or ultra-low emission vehicles; and nearly £500 million ($560 million) in the next four years in development and mass production of electric vehicle batteries.

The government will also launch a consultation on phasing out of new diesel HGVs.

UK to Ban Sales of New Petrol, Diesel Cars, Vans From 2030

Johnson’s plan was broadly welcomed by industry.

“Success will depend on reassuring consumers that they can afford these new technologies,” auto industry group SMMT said in a statement, adding the new deadline posed an “immense challenge” to the sector.

“It gives a springboard to the huge opportunities for UK-wide investment and green jobs that a true low-carbon economy can bring,” said Josh Hardie, acting director at the Confederation of British Industry.

Ten-Point Plan

The announcement is a part of a ten-point plan that Johnson said was “a green industrial revolution,” aiming to cut emissions to net zero by 2050, as well as creating and supporting up to 250,000 jobs.

“My Ten Point Plan will create, support and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs, whilst making strides towards net zero by 2050,” Johnson said in a statement.

The government said it would mobilise £12 billion ($13.43 billion) in public funds for the plan and hopes to galvanize three times as much investment from the private sector by 2030.

Other points in the plan include investments in offshore wind, hydrogen, and nuclear power; investment in zero-emission public transport; research projects into zero-emission planes and ships; heat pumps for homes and public buildings; removing emissions deemed harmful from the atmosphere; planting trees; and investing in new “green” technologies.

Johnson, who is grappling with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus crisis, Brexit trade negotiations, and the departure of his most senior adviser, wants to underscore his green credentials as part of what he hopes will be a reset for his government.

“Now is the time to plan for a green recovery with high-skilled jobs that give people the satisfaction of knowing they are helping to make the country cleaner, greener and more beautiful,” Johnson said in a column published in the Financial Times on Tuesday.

“This plan can be a global template for delivering net zero emissions in ways that creates jobs and preserve our lifestyles,” Johnson said, outlining his ambition.

The article nodded to the vision he had painted in October of a future Britain “transformed for the better.”

Speaking to virtual audiences at the Conservative Party conference on Oct. 6, Johnson said it wasn’t “enough just to go back to normal” after the pandemic, which he said can be a “trigger for an acceleration of social and economic change.”

Britain last year became the first G7 country to set in law a net-zero emission target by 2050, which will require wholesale changes in the way Britons travel, use energy, and eat.

Reuters contributed to this report

Focus News: UK to Ban Sales of New Petrol, Diesel Cars, Vans From 2030

Pentagon Says It Shot Down Unarmed Missile in Sea-Based Test

WASHINGTON—In a first for the Pentagon’s push to develop defenses against intercontinental-range ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States, a missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy ship at sea hit and destroyed a mock ICBM in flight on Tuesday, officials said. Previous tests against ICBM targets had used interceptors launched from underground silos in the United States. If further, more challenging tests prove successful, the ship-based approach could add to the credibility and reliability of the Pentagon’s existing missile defense system. The success of Tuesday’s test is likely to draw particular interest from North Korea, whose development of intercontinental-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons is the main reason the Pentagon has sought to accelerate its building of missile defense systems over the past decade. North Korea has recently refrained from…