Presentation by Caroline Mullen & Greg Marsden, delivered at Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Annual International Conference, August 2014. www.rgs.org/WhatsOn/ConferencesAndSeminars/Annual+International+Conference www.demand.ac.uk www.it.leeds.ac.uk

1. Fuel prices and social justice: an
inevitable conflict?
Caroline Mullen and Greg Marsden

2. Policy hopes for LEV
Projected average new car and van emissions over the first three carbon budget periods
and illustrative ranges of average new car and van emissions in the fourth carbon budget
period and to 2050
HM Government (2011) The Carbon Plan: Delivering our low carbon future, Executive
Summary, page 8

3. A shift to electric vehicles has implications for the cost of driving:
• Even with government subsidies,
buying electric vehicles tends to
be far more expensive than
buying diesel or petrol vehicles
• But the fuel tends to be far
cheaper (if charge at home).
i. But costs are contingent on tax and subsidy, technological
development, resource availability, and other market factors.
ii. These costs, and the factors governing them, raise questions
of fairness and justice.
iii. This should inform governance of energy
and transport.

4. Transport, mobility and justice – outline of a theory of justice
Start with a broad conception of egalitarian justice (accept there will still be
objections):
• Each person matters (morally) as much as any other: so their life matters,
and their ability to make something of their life also matters (Glover, 1977;
Harris, 1988, 1997).
• There is a societal responsibility to make political, social and economic
arrangements which reflect this assumption that each person matters – i.e.
show equal concern (Dworkin 2000; Glover, 1977; Harris, 1988, 1997)
• The societal obligation also falls on each person, so that people have some
responsibility to accept limitations for the benefit of others (Mullen et al.
2014)
• People should be ‘treated as equals’ and this is not always the same as
providing ‘equal treatment’ (Dworkin 1977, p. 68).

5. Transport, mobility and justice
Tends to consider justice in relation to
• Accessibility or availability of movement or transport,
recognises that this enables engagement in social, economic
political and personal activities.
• Life-threatening risks and aspects of sustaining life: that is
risks from collisions and pollution as well as risks from
absence of essential goods and services. 29,000 deaths per
year (from cardio vascular illness) in the UK are attributed to
poor air quality
Tends to be uneven social distribution in both
Mobility and transport can involve people imposing multiple
risks and barriers on one another

6. Cars and everyday life: current conditions and future scenarios
Users with reasonable access1 to key services by mode of travel, England, Source: DfT, (2012) Accessibility
Statistics, Table ACS0201
Employment Primary
school
Secondary
school
Further
Education
GP Hospital Food
store
2007 Public Transport
/ Walking
80.8 44.2 50 62 59.7 36.2 52.3
Cycle 57.4 58.7 49.8 45.7 56.1 35.9 58.5
Car 89.4 58.6 75.2 84.4 75.8 73.7 66.9
2008 Public Transport
/ Walking
81.4
44.1 49.5 61.5 59.6 35.9 52.3
Cycle 58.2 58.7 57.1 45.4 56.1 35.9 58.5
Car 89.5 58.6 74.9 84.2 75.8 73 66.8
2009 Public Transport
/ Walking
81.6 44.3 50.5 58.7 61.7 33.7 52.5
Cycle 57.6 58.6 49.4 42.2 57.1 31.2 58.3
Car 89.5 58.6 75.1 79.5 75.9 72.5 66.9
2010 Public Transport
/ Walking
81.6 44.1 50.2 62.4 61 31.3 54.3
Cycle 58.6 59.5 51.9 47.8 59 32.1 59.5
Car 89.5 58.6 75.2 84.5 75.9 72.2 66.9

7. It can be difficult to engage in some activities without a car
Traffic can make participation difficult

8. Electric vehicles charged at domestic electricity rates:
• Might expect reduction in local pollution
• Could be indirect impacts associated with changes in
distribution of disposable income since some people
would now be spending less on travel.
• Might see increase in travel given demand elasticity
between car travel and fuel prices (Dargey 2007, p.
958 reports an elasticity of -0.14). This could
exacerbate some difficulties of engaging in activities
without a car, or getting on with certain non-car
activities

9. Fuel, electric vehicles and justice
So – we might see increase in travel given demand
elasticity between car travel and fuel prices. This could
exacerbate some difficulties of engaging in activities
without a car, or getting on with certain non-car
activities.
[How] does this matter for justice?
First: If any societal decision, to act or not to act, is
going to have an impact on distribution of welfare or
ability to participate, then we cannot avoid the
questions of justice.

10. How do we get from identifying inequalities in ability to
participate to knowing what to do about it?
• We need to decide what activities matter: looking at
access, or just subsidising fuel or vehicles is not
enough – because travel and mobility can act as a
barrier
• Back to our conception of justice: sustaining life and
making something of life matters – can we develop
an understanding of, and protect ‘valuable’ activities?

11. Shove (2010) has argued, everyday practices concerned with
apparently basic aspects of living, alter and over time can
expand to involve increasing resources
e.g. living away from
pollution may increase
pressure to travel by car;
access to healthy food can
involve travel to shops, and
potentially significant food
miles; and access to
healthcare and medicine
can rely on a transport
system able to take people
significant distances quickly

12. We need to understand:
• How people do, and might, engage in practices
under different conditions, including different forms
of transport system and availability of mobility.
• Possibilities for intervening to alter the conditions in
which electric vehicles form part of the transport
system, since these conditions influence the
development of everyday practices.

13. Domestic and mobility fuel: a policy double standard?
Policy on fuel pricing has been brought into question by
this discussion of justice.
Subsidising fuel is unlikely to overcome these problems
- but pricing may be part of the interventions which are
needed.
Implications for
equality with respect
to practices involving
domestic energy?