Cities can ban cars to combat air pollution — court

摘要

A German court ruled today that local governments can ban vehicles from some streets torncombat air pollution, a decision with far-reaching consequences for the nation's automakers.rnThe Federal Administrative Court sided with Deutsche Umwelthilfe, an environmental andrnconsumer rights organization that brought the lawsuits against local governments.rnDeutsche Umwelthilfe had argued that local governments had the responsibility to uphold airrnquality standards set by the European Union.rnThe ruling could pose a threat to German automakers such as Volkswagen AG that haverninvested heavily in diesel technology. Volkswagen famously claimed the technology wasrnenvironmentally friendly even as it cheated on diesel emissions tests.rn"The days of flooding the inner cities with poisonous diesel emissions are over," said JürgenrnResch, managing director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe. "These vehicles have no place in our citiesrnanymore."