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UK air quality shows little improvement over past 20 years, says study

(8 posts)
  • Started 7 years ago by crowriver
  • Latest reply from I were right about that saddle

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  1. crowriver
    Member

    UK air quality shows little improvement over past 20 years, says study

    There has been little improvement in air quality over the past 20 years as transport planners focus on preventing road deaths, according to a study.

    Two university academics set out to try to understand why there has been little improvement in air pollution concentrations from road transport since the UK signed up to international air quality standards in 1995, as part of the Environment Act.

    Dr Tim Chatterton and Prof Graham Parkhurst, from the Bristol-based University of the West of England, said their work concluded that UK transport planners were not taking the environmental impacts of transport choices sufficiently into account.

    They said that current figures estimate that more than 50,000 deaths a year can be attributed to air pollution in the UK yet planners focus on reducing road accidents.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/30/uk-air-quality-shows-little-improvement-past-20-years-says-study

    Posted 7 years ago #

  2. Ed1
    Member

    The Westminster government has been promoting the use of higher NOx level vehicles and continues to do so through road duty fund, and income tax ( the lower tax cars often higher NOx than the petrol ones, and at times congestion charge exemptions). If look at the NOx level of cars it’s the higher ones that often pay less duty and lower income tax rating. A central tax/duty policy failure rather than transport planners if policy had not changed and had similar mix of petrol to diesel cars on the road as 20 years ago the levels would be less today.

    A petrol 1.4 Vauxhall Astra has 27 NOx, the diesel Astra 1.6 has Nox52 they both have similar PS outputs. The problem is that duty/tax/exemptions has been based on CO2. When its Nox that has been killing people may be.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  3. crowriver
    Member

    High court rules UK government plans to tackle air pollution are illegal

    Court rules for second time in 18 months that the government is not doing enough to combat the national air pollution crisis

    "Documents revealed during the latest case showed the Treasury had blocked plans to charge diesel cars to enter towns and cities blighted by air pollution, concerned about the political impact of angering motorists. Both the environment and transport departments recommended changes to vehicle excise duty rates to encourage the purchase of low-pollution vehicles, but the Treasury also rejected that idea."

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/02/high-court-rules-uk-government-plans-to-tackle-air-pollution-are-illegal?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco

    Posted 7 years ago #

  4. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    The requirement to increase air quality arises under EU law so I think we can reasonably confidently predict that this one is going to be included in the Great Repeal Act.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  5. Stickman
    Member

    All that nasty foreign pollution won't be coming over here once we take back control.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  6. wishicouldgofaster
    Member

    It's only the foreigners that drive polluting cars :)

    Posted 7 years ago #

  7. paddyirish
    Member

    @WICGF, all those Nissans?

    Posted 7 years ago #

  8. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    The problem of urban air pollution has been solved boys and girls, so we can all get school-running to our hearts' content.

    Posted 5 years ago #

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