For F***'s sake lets see a bit more imagination and will from our politicians!

IMHO the internal combustion engine is going to be arround for a long time yet. What is needed is some more imaginative solutions to green issues.

People need to drive to get to work, get the kids to school etc. Those in this situation are not going to vote for a Green party that is perceived to be anti-car.

Mainstream politicians think that increasing road tax, petrol tax and conjestion charging will make people drive less. For the vast majority of people who fall into the group described above it doesn't. They just pay up and keep on driving.

I'd like to see some of the vast fortune screwed out of drivers in tax spent on negating the effects of car emissions, such as building sequestration plants to remove pollutants from the air (or even planing trees).

Getting decent surfaces on the roads, getting councils out of the habit of digging up almost every road in a city as the financial year comes to an end so as to use up their buggets and bring traffic to a stand still. (Yes, CIty of Edinburgh Council, J'accuse) and an end to stupid no left / right turn systems that sheperd traffic onto the busiest roads would make a huge impact on emmissions.

Decent inner city parking would also help. Limiting waitimng times to four hours so that folk with full time jobs have to go out at lunch time and move there cars to a different area to avoid a ticket is just crazy.

On a larger scale an international initiative to irrigate deserts such as the Sahara and reverse desert expansion, could turn the desert into forrest / farmland which would provide jobs / food / income might even stimulate climate change in a more positive direction, such as kick starting the water cycle by stimulating natural rainfall.