Mayor Johnson and current Government must join Labour apology on diesel
Mayor Johnson and current Government must join Labour apology on diesel
Simon Birkett, Founder and Director of Clean Air in London, said:
“Clean Air in London welcomes Labour’s admission of previous Government blunders favouring diesel over petrol. We eagerly await Channel 4 Dispatches “The Great [Diesel] Car Con” tomorrow.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches
“Since 1993, successive Governments have prioritised climate change over local air pollution – effectively killing people sooner – from the health effects of ‘carcinogenic’ diesel exhaust – rather than much later from the consequences of climate change. Their decisions then were irrational and delivered no climate benefits at a catastrophic human cost that will be felt for decades.
“Mayor Johnson and the current Government must join Labour in apologising for their love of diesel. The auto industry must also accept responsibility for its share of failings on diesel and stop lobbying against action intended to protect public health now.
“We need public warnings, compensation schemes and a national and EU-wide strategy that will eliminate diesel from our cities within five years as coal was banned so successfully 60 years ago.”
ENDS
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Environment/article1511239.ece
Notes
1. London examples
https://cleanair.london/sources/mayor-publishes-health-study-revealing-deaths-attributable-to-no2/
https://cleanair.london/sources/mayor-is-destroying-the-taxi-industry-in-london/
2. National examples
3. Milestones and other links
March 1993 CO2 introduced for fuel duty
http://www.theaa.com/public_affairs/reports/tax-and-investment-march08.pdf
http://www.johnmajor.co.uk/page4282.html
November 1993
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1993/nov/30/road-fuel-duty-and-vehicle-excise-duty
Big focus on CO2 reductions after 1997 Kyoto Protocol
http://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=502226
http://www.foe.co.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/reform_ved_foe.pdf
September 1997
Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution – report
Problems of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen highlighted in 1998 (see paragraph 2.9)
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/19961122000217
4. Future tax trends and other reports
http://www.nextgreencar.com/company-car-tax/future-trends.php
CAL 294 HMT 1998 Consultation On Reform
CAL 294 NAQS Research Paper 1997-33
CAL 299 Dr Ian Mudway’s presentation about air pollution – Greenwich
CAL 299 KCL Eckard_Helmers_The_European_diesel_car_boom_diesel_causes_and_effects 2014
https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/2190-4715-25-15
http://www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/LAQNSeminar/pdf/June2014/Ian_Mudway_Fumifugium_2014.pdf
CAL 306 DoH FoI reply re diesel vs climate 200715
CAL 306 DoH FoI reply re diesel vs climate 200715_Annex A
http://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/jun/20/britain-london-pollution-air-quality-health
CAL 325 EC Impact Assessment re occupational health including diesel 080317