Hi everyone

[Wallythacker]

It works different at your side of the ocean. I just checked, the ownership of a 2011 Subaru Forester would cost me €852 a year for roadtax only. €1644 when it's a diesel. Mandatory insurance would be €267. (Liability only). If I didn't have >15 years of damage-free driving, that could be up to €650.

Just too much to only own a car. I can better hire one when I need something bigger than my Space Star.

I can't fathom the road tax you have over there. Nearly $2k for the diesel? To save the environment, right? In Ontario our annual plate costs $120 (up from $8x a couple years back) and as a second car my Saturn Vue costs me $6/week for liability only. Renting anything the size of my Vue is likely $75-100/day so it's economical for me to keep my Saturn. I use it a fair bit in the spring moving junk to my boat and plane and back again in the fall. Not to mention whatever junk I need to dispose of via my small trailer or bring home like topsoil, etc.

But ya, over here we do have a lifestyle that seems excess to the remainder of the world.

Time to rant: I'm sick of hearing that we are in a climate emergency and have only a few years to correct things by massively reducing our carbon footprint. Look, it wasn't my choice to be born where I was, in a province that gets colder than h*ll in the winter and requires me to gobble carbon fuel to stay warm, also our population density for our size is pretty low, meaning the only way I can realistically get to things is to drive there. Sit on public transit for 4 hours to see a concert in Toronto, an hour away by car? Not a chance.

If we're really on the downslope and it's not recoverable then gov. should have the stones to tell us. Then we can party like it's 1999 until the end comes. If it's really as bad as they say but still fixable, invoke Marshall law, crush every Hummer, Escalade, Navigator, F150, RAM et al. and be done with it. Mandate no one person can have more than 500 sq. ft. of residence (or whatever pencils in sensibly) unless they can prove they have the carbon footprint equivalence said size.

Stop screwing around with useless carbon credits which do nothing to reduce the effect on the environment. No more preaching from me.