The consultation, launched on Friday, could lower the proportion of new cars required to be fully electric in 2030 from the current 80% target to 70%, 60% or 50%. The review comes as Burnham publicly acknowledged that climate change is contributing to the severe conditions affecting parts of England and Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to The Guardian, the government opened its consultation only hours after the UK recorded its hottest day of the year so far and its fifth hottest day<\/strong> on record. Five heatwaves have affected the country this summer, while scientists have said that global heating caused by carbon emissions has almost certainly worsened the extreme conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the West Midlands, 19 homes were destroyed, about 200 hectares of land were burned and dozens of people were taken to hospital after grassfires. Burnham visited Stourbridge<\/strong>, where some of the damage occurred, and said the country could not accept such conditions as a \u201cnew normal.\u201d He linked the fires with wider weather impacts, pointing to drought across much of England and Wales, crop failures and hundreds of wildfires faced by firefighters in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n