New Zealand to Help Pay for Cleaner Cars
2022-05-19
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1New Zealand's government recently announced it will help pay for poorer families to replace their old cars with cleaner hybrid or electric vehicles.
2The government said it plans to spend $357 million on the test program.
3The move is part of a wider plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
4Greenhouse gases are believed to cause warming temperatures in the Earth's atmosphere.
5New Zealand plans to provide aid for businesses to reduce emissions and have buses that run on environmentally safe fuel by 2035.
6The government also plans to provide food-waste collection for most homes by 2030.
7Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement, "We've all seen the recent reports on sea level rise and its impact right here in New Zealand.
8We cannot leave the issue of climate change until it's too late to fix."
9The plan is a step toward New Zealand's stated goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
10Reaching net-zero emissions means not creating more carbon in the atmosphere than oceans and forests can remove.
11Ardern said that reducing dependence on fossil fuels would help protect families from extreme price increases.
12The plan also sets a goal of reducing total car travel by 20 percent over the next 13 years.
13The programs will be paid for from a $2.8 billion climate emergency response fund.
14Officials said that over time, money collected from polluters would pay for the programs rather than taxes from families.
15Some critics of the plan say it continued to be less restrictive on New Zealand's huge agriculture industry.
16Agriculture creates about half of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions.
17But the industry is also important to the economy as the nation's biggest export earner.
18David Seymour is the leader of New Zealand's ACT political party.
19He said that some of the announced programs are proven to be ineffective "and have been tried and failed overseas."
20Seymour added that people should be able to choose how they reduce emissions through the market-based emissions trading plan.
21I'm Jonathan Evans.
1New Zealand's government recently announced it will help pay for poorer families to replace their old cars with cleaner hybrid or electric vehicles. 2The government said it plans to spend $357 million on the test program. 3The move is part of a wider plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases are believed to cause warming temperatures in the Earth's atmosphere. 4New Zealand plans to provide aid for businesses to reduce emissions and have buses that run on environmentally safe fuel by 2035. The government also plans to provide food-waste collection for most homes by 2030. 5Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement, "We've all seen the recent reports on sea level rise and its impact right here in New Zealand. We cannot leave the issue of climate change until it's too late to fix." 6The plan is a step toward New Zealand's stated goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Reaching net-zero emissions means not creating more carbon in the atmosphere than oceans and forests can remove. 7Ardern said that reducing dependence on fossil fuels would help protect families from extreme price increases. 8The plan also sets a goal of reducing total car travel by 20 percent over the next 13 years. 9The programs will be paid for from a $2.8 billion climate emergency response fund. Officials said that over time, money collected from polluters would pay for the programs rather than taxes from families. 10Some critics of the plan say it continued to be less restrictive on New Zealand's huge agriculture industry. Agriculture creates about half of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions. But the industry is also important to the economy as the nation's biggest export earner. 11David Seymour is the leader of New Zealand's ACT political party. He said that some of the announced programs are proven to be ineffective "and have been tried and failed overseas." 12Seymour added that people should be able to choose how they reduce emissions through the market-based emissions trading plan. 13I'm Jonathan Evans. 14Nick Perry reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. 15Words in This Story 16hybrid - adj. related to something that has two different types of components performing essentially the same function 17emissions - n. something that is given off 18impact - n. a strong effect 19fund - n. a sum of money for a special purpose 20overseas - n. beyond or across the sea