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Dialogue:______read aloud in pairs

A: What would be your favourite green measure?

B: I can answer that directly. I'd start by rationing petrol to cut out unnecessary car journeys.

A: What do you mean by unnecessary?

B: Let me explain. Every morning, people go up and down motorways or cross

from one side of town to the other in their cars, when they could quite easily take

trains or buses.

A: But public transport is expensive and inconvenient.

B: It wouldn't be expensive if we could give it more public support. Firstly,

motorists who want to live within their rations of normally priced petrol could leave

their cars at home. Drivers who want more than their rations would have to pay a

much higher rate for the extra. The profit could be used to develop environmentally

clean vehicles and fast and efficient railway systems.

A: Don't you think you are being unfair to the private motorist and what about the car industry?

B: The private motorist is being unfair to the environment. Why shouldn't those

who cause air and noise pollution do something to reduce it? As for the car industry,

how many of our vehicles are truly British made? Wouldn't it be better to cut the

import bill and turn our own production to the vehicles of the future?

A: You can't build new industries overnight.

B: I'm not saying you can. The oil companies are determined to get in the way of

any scheme which means that people will consume less of their product. Many

promising developments have been suppressed.

A: Well, how is it all going to change then?

B: Only through the election of a government which is courageous enough to take

on the oil companies and ration petrol.