A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #362 - Ecology - ZFE: The Impossible Liberal Ecology (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In the name of the environment, the liberal and bourgeois state has 
implemented the Low Emission Zone (ZFE) system: a way to limit vehicle 
use among the most vulnerable while encouraging the consumption of new 
cars, since no real alternative is ever offered. Ultimately, it is the 
right and the far right that are taking advantage of this measure to 
establish themselves as the leaders of the opposition and defend their 
conservative interests on other issues. Air pollution has very serious 
impacts on health in France. It comes mainly from road traffic and is 
concentrated in cities. The state has therefore implemented a legal 
mechanism that provides for the classification of vehicles according to 
environmental standards (the famous Crit'Air stickers) and the 
restriction of poorly classified vehicles from French metropolitan areas.

The Far Right at the Forefront
This measure perfectly embodies the liberal ecology movement, which 
chooses to prioritize individual behavioral change (even to the point of 
forcing it) in addition to promoting consumption by encouraging the 
purchase of a better vehicle. An impact study on the Grenoble ZFE, for 
example, demonstrated a difference in impact depending on 
socio-professional categories. Not only do the more affluent social 
classes have statistically less impacted vehicles than the working 
classes, but also, half of the people affected have no alternative to 
the car[1].

Yet the right and the far right are at the forefront of the protest 
against this law. They used issues of social justice to motivate their 
vote to end the measure. However, their motivation is different. Indeed, 
the law under which this vote is based also provides for "loosening the 
constraints" on net zero artificialization and strengthening the 
possibilities of granting projects a "compelling reason of major public 
interest." The goal is respectively to continue urban planning focused 
on the consumption of space and therefore cars, and to prevent 
construction stoppages such as those on the A69. It's understandable 
that these vultures use social issues as an excuse. They block all 
measures that would free residents of the outskirts of cities and the 
countryside from their dependence on cars and then claim to defend our 
interests, which are linked to these cars.

An alternative from our camp
The ZFEs are in danger of disappearing, and that's not a bad thing. The 
institutional left has found itself in ideological difficulty, 
particularly the environmentalists who, according to them, have chosen 
health by defending the ZFEs. Despite opposition from the LFI, the 
liberal measures have mainly benefited the far right, which has been the 
most visible. To respond to their gigantic charade, we must present an 
alternative vision in our social camp: the right to the city. This 
approach encompasses the social struggles that seek to reclaim cities 
from capitalist appetites. The struggles for free transportation, the 
maintenance or creation of public services, against gentrification, and 
rent control are the foundation of our political project. They are not 
only effective solutions to car dependency and air pollution, but also 
embody a vision capable of defeating liberal and reactionary projects.

Corentin (UCL Kreiz-Breizh)

Validate

[1]Laure Charleux, "Contingencies of environmental justice: the case of 
individual mobility and Grenoble's Low-Emission Zone," Urban Geography, 
2014.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?ZFE-L-impossible-ecologie-liberale
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