Motorway Amsterdam-Utrecht, construction of a viaduct near Vinkeveen, 11 May 1953. Picture: Harry Pot, Nationaal Archief / Anefo.
On 30 September, professor of Dutch history Peter van Dam was a guest at RICH research group The Eighties. He discussed the environment and climate in the 1980s, a theme that grew in importance during that period due to problems such as acid rain, the Lekkerkerk toxic scandal and the hole in the ozone layer. Although some problems were tackled, such as the acid rain and the depletion of the ozone layer, Van Dam noted that the environmental politics of the 80s fell short. In his lecture, he focused on the developments around the passenger car and car-related infrastructure. Van Dam outlined three developments: the transformation of the landscape, energy consumption and pollution and CO2 emissions.
The transformation mainly concerned the increase in car traffic and the resulting changes in the landscape, such as the destruction of old inner cities and the construction of dozens of kilometres of motorway; developments that were often met with resistance. Energy consumption mainly focused on saving or using oil and fuel more efficiently and on using other energy sources. In 1988, the second Lubbers cabinet increased the maximum speed on motorways to 120. The benefit would lie in the promise that this speed limit would be enforced more strictly than it had been in the past. Furthermore, from the 80s onwards, the car was increasingly viewed as one of the causes of the rising CO2 emissions. The policy that was developed as a result of this was mainly motivated by concerns about public health.
The reduction in the amount of sulphur and the rise of clean combustion engines can be seen as a success story in this regard. At the same time, however, these successes eased the pressure to really take drastic measures. In 1989, for example, the second Lubbers cabinet proposed to abolish the National Environment Policy Plan (NMP) for travel allowance. The VVD parliament party, led by Joris Voorhoeve, opposed this, which led to the fall of the second Lubbers cabinet. At the end of the 80s, the number of cars had increased by almost a million and the need to reduce emissions had decreased.
Report: Maaike van Deelen