In the name of the environment, the liberal and bourgeois state has
implemented the Low Emission Zone (ZFE) system: a way to limit vehicleuse 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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