In London today, all cars, except the cleanest ones, have to pay £8 ($16) a day, to enter the city of London. But starting in October this year owners of big gas-guzzling cars will need to pay £25 ($50).

On a news conference Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, said that he believes that “this ground-breaking initiative will have an impact throughout the world with other cities following suit as they step up their efforts to halt the slide towards catastrophic climate change.”

Ken Livingstone admits that the new tax will only have a minor impact on greenhouse gas emissions in London. But, he says the new congestion charging scheme for gas-guzzling cars will send signals that its time to change lifestyle.

“I have every sympathy for a Scottish hill farmer who needs his 4×4 to get around,” Livingstone said. “But there is absolutely no justification for cars producing high amounts of pollution being driven in central London.”

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