Reducing CO2 emissions... (warning, may contain nuts)

[5potnoodle]

Whether you are sceptical or not about man-made global warming, the government are on course for making sure the tax payer pays for excessive usage. It's unlikely to be any different under a new political regime after the general election so we're up a creak.... but...

If the government is really serious about reducing CO2 emissions, why not turn off some of the flippin' lights that illuminate great swathes of the motorways in... er... the countryside. What are they there for? So that the badgers can see their way across the road? The last time I looked, cars had headlights fitted to them as standard equipment. If the road safety argument is to be spouted then I can only say that the further you can see ahead increases the confidence in driving at higher speeds. Think about it... if you can't see as well because your headlights only have a limited range, self preservation will kick in and speed will drop.

If the reason for lighting a motorway is to reduce accident risk, then surely it's better to remove one or two idiots from the gene pool than run the risk of removing a rather large chunk of civilisation from it due to the extra CO2 those lights have contributed? (That is if you believe that it's man-made, otherwise if you're a sceptic, it's in order to reduce costs and energy resources... either way we win)

If you've ever flown at night from the UK to mainland Europe, you'll have noticed the difference in road lighting strategies. It is truly astounding.

The next time you're driving down a road in the country at night, just consider whether you feel those lights are actually necessary.

Discuss...