European leaders are discussing whether we should make our cars more efficient. Right now the cars we drive in the EU are stuck in the past. Their thirst for oil is fuelling a dangerous rush to drill in fragile places, such as the Arctic.

To help end the tonnes of CO2 emitted by EU cars, Greenpeace launched a new campaign, following on from our VW Darkside campaign. We want to put inefficient cars in the history books where they belong.

Greenpeace supporters got VW to show that car companies can do better. Now it’s the turn of the politicians.

You can see how they can be badasses too in our new campaign video here:

Politicians in Europe can vote for strong car efficiency regulations this month. Here’s what that could mean: 

  1. Less pollution: We could cut car CO2 emissions in half by 2025 in Europe
  2. A safer climate through a worldwide trend for cleaner car laws: Other countries like China often follow the lead of the EU in introducing legislation.
  3. A safer Arctic by helping reduce the drive for oil in fragile environments: We could reduce the amount of oil European cars use by a third (compared with 2011) by 2020.
  4. Cheaper driving: We could reduce the annual cost of driving in Europe by a third by 2020.
  5. Economic boost: Greener cars will mean that companies need to adapt the workforce - and potentially create new green manufacturing jobs to build these cars.

Car companies already have the technology to improve - but they’re not using it. Instead they’re lobbying hard to minimize any green improvements that could be made.

This is should be about protecting people and the environment - not about letting companies carry on selling inefficient cars and fuel and carry on as if climate change was a myth.

We’ll be presenting our petition to key politicians in Europe later in April - so go to www.EUvsCO2.org now to help us clean up our cars!