Car is climate killer, most people think

• Cars top cause of climate change in survey
• Drivers should restrict car use, say respondents
• Push to reduce emissions from cars under way

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More people blame emissions from road transport for climate change than anything else, and most think car use should be limited to combat carbon dioxide output.

A new Department for Transport survey shows 72% of people identified road transport as a cause of climate change, compared with 40% for aviation.

Although energy production is the leading source of carbon dioxide output, just 35% of the 1238 people interviewed recognised it as an area of environmental concern.

Instead, 62% of said people should try to limit the use of their car for the sake of the environment, although support for pricing measures designed to restrict use were less popular. Higher taxes for the most polluting cars received the most support at 41%, while just 17% backed congestion charges.

Overall, 81% of people were very or fairly concerned about climate change, although readers voting in a whatcar.com put concerns for the environment behind price, image and equipment levels as motivating factors in their choice of car.

Climate change in the news
There has been much political activity around passenger-car carbon dioxide output recently.

New EU targets to cut average new car emissions to be 120g/km by 2012 are being contested by key manufacturers, while the DfT launched a new drive to encourage motorists to be greener.

The Treasury has also launched a new review to examine ways in which emissions from road transport can be cut. The review will be lead by Sir Nicholas Stern, author of a report published late last year that described climate change as a serious threat.

The Stern report was placed at the heart of Gordon Brown's budget and action on road transport last week.

What do you think?
Should we use our cars less, or has road transport become an easy target in the environmental debate?

What action would you like legislators to take, and what are you prepared to give up in a bid to limit our impact on the environment?

Send in your comments by clicking here, and we'll publish them online at whatcar.com.