Forty thousand deaths caused by air pollution each year require urgent action, not platitudinous long-term promises Michael Gove cannot keep, argues Geraint Davies MP
As is said too often, a week is a long time in politics. It would therefore be optimistic for the prime minister’s new environment secretary, Gove, to assume he still has a seat in parliament in the year 2040 – let alone a cabinet position. And yet Gove has decided that the year 2040 – 23 years from now – is when he will start doing something about air pollution.
Having repeatedly lost High Court cases for illegally toxic levels of air pollution, the government’s latest addition to its ‘Clean Air Strategy’ – to ban petrol and diesel and diesel cars by 2040 – made headlines this week. It is, of course, a step in the right direction – if the United Kingdom is going to stop breaking international law on air quality and meet its Paris commitments on climate change, we will have to rethink our driving habits and develop new technology. However, city council leaders and environmental charities such Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth (who took legal action against the government) were right to instantly disparage the plans as too little, too late. The court’s ruling was for pollution to be reduced in the shortest possible time – not to begin in over two decades’ time.
Air pollution is, as we all now know, more than just a smelly unpleasantry for Londoners. The Royal College of Physicians estimate that air pollution leads to 40,000 premature deaths in the UK each year, at a cost of £20bn to the economy – a huge burden on the already struggling National Health Service. The invisible poison which plagues our streets targets the most vulnerable: children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing heart or lung conditions. Air pollution also damages foetal development and can lead to brain damage. This is an unjustifiably high price to pay, especially when there are available technology and policy solutions which we do not need to wait for.
Earlier this year I published my clean air bill which sets out a blueprint for a clean air strategy that will tackle head-on this public health disaster. Provisions include new powers for local authorities to implement clean air zones, real-time emissions tracking, a targeted diesel scrappage scheme, restrictions on emissions from shipping and diesel heavy goods vehicles in urban areas, and rapid development of nationwide electric car charging points. The bill is supported by the Royal College of Physicians, Unicef, the Royal College of GPs and Friends of the Earth.
This week, over 120 MPs and Lords from across the party political spectrum have signed my joint letter to Gove demanding quicker and more effective action on air quality. Signatories include the Conservative chair of the environment select committee, Neil Parish; former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, former Labour leader Ed Miliband, the Green party’s Caroline Lucas, various other Scottish National party and Tory MPs, and Labour’s shadow secretary of state for the environment, Sue Hayman. The letter calls for the provisions in the clean air bill to be applied without delay in the government’s strategy, which has its deadline on 3 July.
The sheer diversity of MPs calling for immediate and effective action shows that air pollution is not just a party political issue, or just a London problem, but a national health emergency which affects constituents everywhere. For the sake of those we claim to represent, their children and future generations, Michael Gove needs to act, and act fast.
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Geraint Davies is the Labour MP for Swansea West, and author of the clean air bill. He sits on the environmental audit committee and is the Council of Europe’s rapporteur for air quality.
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And now, we have yet another” bandwagon,” with the promotion of electric vehicles. Could it be a long term disaster? Is this yet another example of strong, manufacturing lobbyists pressurising Career Politicians who naively bow to manufacturers with vested interests? But, as few are engineers and scientists, they do not know how to ask the questions. Let’s remember that it was a New Labour Government that encouraged people to buy diesels “for the sake of the environment”! I could never understand WHY there was this policy. I assumed that it was because a Diesel vehicle could get twice the mileage than a petrol vehicle. Then, the “buzz,” conventional wisdom was that we should be “saving the planet” by reducing fuel consumption. We don’t hear much about that now? Mmmm….
It was a “no brainer” that stuff out of an exhaust pipe was toxic. We have known that for decades! To its credit, vehicle manufacturers have significantly reduced emissions in the last decade, or so. Why was there not a study on the pollutants of various types of engines and fuels, at the time, before the Diesel policy? Electric vehicles appear to be a “simple solution” to the problem of pollution. However, the political scene over the decades (especially under New Labour) is littered with “simple solutions” that have proved to be a disaster. Billions have been wasted on the electrification of the GWR, which has now been abandoned. Further billions will be wasted on HS2. It is a “vanity project” to massage career politician’s egos; but the damage to the countryside, environment and nature is permanent and incredibly depressing – just for the sake of shaving a relatively small time off the current rail times. And it is the well-off who will be able to travel on it!
Much of the hype of electric vehicles is based upon “new innovations” that have yet to be proved. Battery technology has advanced, but there are inherent problems. “Filling up” with electricity is not the same as filling up with petrol. As an electrical engineer, I know that rapid charging is likely to do considerable damage to batteries. They may well need frequent and costly replacement. What happened to the LPG, fuel cells and Hydrogen which was going to revolutionise transport and “save the planet”? Has this latest “bandwagon” been properly thought through? What will be the unforeseen problems due to the “law of unexpected outcomes” that have bedevilled many political decisions? Could, for example, streets and streets of vehicles’ electromagnetic fields cause considerable problems? Bear in mind Gove did immense damage to education and the legal system. Now, he is in charge of the environment!!! God help us!!!
Vic Parks
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