New Zealand to help pay for cleaner cars to reduce emissions

By NICK PERRY
Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand will help pay for lower-income families to scrap their old gas guzzlers and replace them with cleaner hybrid or electric cars as part of a sweeping plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The government said it plans to spend 569 million New Zealand dollars ($357 million) on the trial program. It’s part of a larger plan that includes subsidies for businesses to reduce emissions, a switch to an entirely green bus fleet by 2035 and curbside food-waste collection for most homes by the end of the decade. The plan represents a step toward the pledges the nation made under the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change.