Macron’s Climate Panel Wants To Ban Cars, 5G, Big Box Stores, More

The yellow‑vest protests spurred President Macron to put 150 random members of the public in charge of his environmental policy. What could possibly go wrong?

President Macron’s attempt to appease yellow-vest protesters has saddled him with radical ecological policy proposals likely to further damage the wobbling French economy.

They stem from his decision to delegate the fight against climate change to 150 members of the public chosen at random.

That group has now come up with a plan to modify the way the French shop, travel and produce food, including the closure of out-of-town hypermarkets to encourage shopping locally, and shelving the 5G network because it uses 30 percent more electricity than previous iterations.

The panel also wants to prohibit the sale of cars that emit more than 110g of CO₂ per kilometer by 2025 — far below that emitted by most existing vehicles, in effect outlawing them — and a ban on advertising hoardings to prevent consumers driving long distances to buy products they do not need.

Television, radio, internet and press advertisements for products generating high levels of CO2 would also be banned, and those that were authorized would have to carry the wording: “Do you really need this? Overconsumption harms the planet.”

Mr. Macron started his climate change consultation in an attempt to appease yellow-vest protesters, who rioted for weeks from November 2018.

Many yellow-vests portrayed themselves as victims of representative democracy, which they said was skewed against provincial workers unable to influence policy.

Amid fears in the Élysée that the protests could develop into a fully-fledged revolution, Mr. Macron agreed to a dose of direct democracy, with the introduction of a Citizens’ Convention for the Climate.

More than 250,000 people were contacted using a random telephone number search and asked if they wanted to join the convention. Most refused.

But 150 agreed after being told that they would be paid €86.24 a day and have their expenses reimbursed.

When the convention first met in October, Mr. Macron asked its members to put forward proposals that would enable France to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 compared with 1990.

He promised that none of the proposals would be binned. They would be implemented immediately, he said, or put before parliament in legislation, or submitted to the people in a referendum.

But with the French government forecasting that the country’s economy will shrink by at least 6 percent this year after the lockdown, Mr. Macron will be under intense pressure to renege on his promise.

Whichever path he chooses is likely to be rocky. If he jettisons the convention’s plan he risks angering yellow-vests who are already threatening further protests as soon as the lockdown ends.

If he implements it he will be criticized by business leaders for adding to their burdens at the worst possible time.

Read rest at The Times