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No Airport Expansion! is a campaign group that aims to provide a rallying point for the many local groups campaigning against airport expansion projects throughout the UK.
Campaigners say government’s £3 billion clean air strategy for NO2 does not go “far enough or fast enough”
Date added: 27 July, 2017
The government’s (DEFRA’s) £3bn clean air strategy was released on 26th July. It suggests ways in which roadside NO2 pollution can be reduced. However, air pollution campaigners say it does not go “far enough or fast enough”, and is disappointing. Some of the measures proposed include banning the sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2040 (so there are none on the roads by 2050) and £255m for councils to tackle air pollution locally. But there is mention of a scrappage scheme for diesel vehicles, or the creation of clean air zones, which environmental groups say are needed. Funding from government of £40 million (raised by a tax on diesel vehicles) will be used to start local schemes rolling, for things like changing road layouts, retrofitting public transport or schemes to encourage people to leave their cars at home. If those measures do not cut NO2 emissions enough, charging zones for the most polluting vehicles could be the next step. Greenpeace UK’s clean air campaigner said 2040 was “far too late” and called for the UK to “lead the world in clean transport revolution”. ClientEarth – the law firm that took the government to court over pollution levels – said the plans were “underwhelming” and “lacking in urgency”. Labour said the government was”shunting the problem on to local authorities” and “With nearly 40 million people living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, action is needed now, not in 23 years’ time.” . Tweet
The Government’s documents (by DEFRA) on air pollution are at
Diesel and petrol car ban: Clean air strategy ‘not enough’
26.7.2017 (BBC)
The government’s £3bn clean air strategy does not go “far enough or fast enough”, campaigners have said.
Moves including banning the sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2040 and £255m for councils to tackle air pollution locally have been welcomed.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the government was determined to deliver a “green revolution”.
But environmental groups criticised the decision not to include a scrappage scheme or immediate clean air zones.
The plan to stop all sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040 is part of the government’s intention for almost every car and van on UK roads to be zero emission by 2050.
The government report includes the promise of £40m immediately to start local schemes rolling, which could include changing road layouts, retrofitting public transport or schemes to encourage people to leave their cars at home.
The funding pot will come from changes to tax on diesel vehicles and the reprioritising departmental budgets – the exact details will be announced later in the year.
If those measures do not cut emissions enough, charging zones for the most polluting vehicles could be the next step.
While air pollution has been mostly falling in the UK, in many cities, nitrogen oxides – which form part of the discharge from car exhausts – regularly breach safe levels.
Mr Grayling said the new plan showed the government was “determined to deliver a green revolution in transport and reduce pollution in our towns and cities”.
But campaigners say these are the measures that need to be implemented now to tackle environmental and health problems, with air pollution linked to about 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK.
Professor Neena Modi, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Hea lth, said air pollution “is a public health emergency” and said it was “frankly inexcusable” that the plans still did not go far enough.
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas welcomed the 2040 announcement, but added: “We also need action that tackles this health emergency in the coming months and years.
“We should use this opportunity to revamp our towns and cities with investment in walking and cycling, and by ensuring that public transport is affordable and reliable.”
Greenpeace UK’s clean air campaigner Areeba Hamid said 2040 was “far too late” and called for the UK to “lead the world in clean transport revolution”.
And ClientEarth – the law firm that took the government to court over pollution levels – said the plans were “underwhelming” and “lacking in urgency”.
The shadow environment secretary, Labour’s Sue Hayman, said the plan saw the government “shunting the problem on to local authorities” and accused it of having a “squeamish attitude” towards clean air zones.
“With nearly 40 million people living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, action is needed now, not in 23 years’ time,” she added.
Liberal Democrat and former Energy Secretary Ed Davey criticised the lack of scrappage scheme as a “shameful betrayal” of diesel car drivers, and said it showed “the utter lack of ambition” of the plan.
And London Mayor Sadiq Khan said people in the capital were “suffering right now” because of air pollution and “can’t afford to wait”.
‘Urgent’ deadlines
The AA also said significant investment would be needed to install charging points across the country for electric vehicles and warned the National Grid would come under pressure with a mass switch-on of recharging after the rush hour.
The government said a new bill would allow it to require the installation of charge points at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers.
The timetable for councils to come up with initial plans has been cut from 18 months to eight, with the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) wanting to “inject additional urgency” into the process.
It follows the government being given its own deadline of 31 July after High Court judges said it was failing to meet EU pollution limits.
Local Government Association environment spokesman Martin Tett welcomed the additional funding, but opposed holding off on a scrappage scheme, arguing “this immediate intervention could help increase the uptake of lower emission vehicles”.
BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin said councils were not happy to be taking the rap for the controversial policy when it was the government that had encouraged the sale of diesel vehicles in the first place.
“Today’s government plan is not comprehensive – it doesn’t address pollution from construction, farming and gas boilers,” he added.
“And clean air campaigners say the government is using the 2040 electric cars announcement to distract from failings in its short-term pollution policy.”
The UK announcement comes amid signs of an accelerating shift towards electric cars instead of petrol and diesel ones, at home and abroad:
Ford’s chief financial officer Bob Shanks told the BBC that he supported the ban and believed that Europe would be “ground zero” in leading a global trend to electric vehicles.
“We certainly see that trajectory being quite feasible, and is something that we support,” he added.
We need to see fewer cars not newer cars on our roads, say campaigners
26 July 2017
(Campaign for Better Transport)
Campaigners respond today, 26 July, to the release of the Government’s new air quality strategy.
Campaign for Better Transport said the plan to ban new diesel and petrol cars from 2040, in a bid to tackle air pollution is welcome but unlikely to help deliver cleaner air on the timescales required.
Bridget Fox, Sustainable Transport Campaigner, Campaign for Better Transport said:
“Banning new fossil fuel cars from 2040 is an important and welcome step towards clean air and reduced carbon emissions, but 23 years is far too long to live with illegal pollution.
“Rather than yet more feasibility studies we urgently need practical measures that will deliver cleaner air from day one. That means giving local authorities the power to introduce charging zones and to ban the most polluting vehicles from pollution hotspots.
“Spending £100 million on bus retrofitting is welcome, as is potential new funding for walking and cycling, in contrast with the backwards step on rail electrification, but this is a drop in the ocean compared with the £23 billion the Government is spending on building roads.
“It is disappointing to see there are no immediate plans to introduce a scrappage scheme to get high polluting diesels off the road.
“With the Government signalling the end to cars as we know them, the need to invest in high quality public transport is greater than ever.”
ENDS
For further information please contact Richard Watkins, Press Officer, at Campaign for Better Transport on 020 7566 6494 / 07984 773468 richard.watkins@bettertransport.org.uk
Notes to editors
Read the Government’s air quality action plan here
Campaign for Better Transport is the UK’s leading authority on sustainable transport. We champion transport solutions that improve people’s lives and reduce environmental damage. Our campaigns push innovative, practical policies at local and national levels. Campaign for Better Transport Charitable Trust is a registered charity (1101929).
Friends of the Earth – Latest on the Air Quality Plan
Latest news on our campaign to make sure everyone, everywhere has safe air to breathe.
26 July 2017
The government’s plans to clean up our dirty air are simply not good enough.
Its much anticipated Air Quality Plan has now been published. But it doesn’t do enough to tackle toxic air pollution and save lives now.
What’s wrong with the plan?
There’s a big announcement – banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 – but this isn’t a plan to end illegal air pollution now, or even anytime soon.
It’s a cynical move designed to grab headlines. Everyone knows what’s needed to give us breathable air:
Clean Air Zones areas in which the most polluting vehicles are charged to enter.
A diesel scrappage scheme to help drivers switch away from the most polluting vehicles.
A levy on the manufacturers who cheated emissions tests to pay for it.
Instead of this the government is passing the buck to local authorities. And as a result people will continue to have their lives cut short because of air pollution.
By relying on attention-grabbing headlines and announcing changes for 23 years’ time the government has shown it isn’t serious about taking meaningful action now.
But with air pollution such a hot topic it’s not the end of the road. With your help we can continue the campaign for clean air everywhere.
What is an Air Quality Plan?
Most areas of the UK are breaching EU legal limits for deadly nitrogen dioxide (NO2) – limits that should originally have been met in 2010.
The government has been repeatedly ordered by the High Court to publish an Air Quality Plan to clean up the country’s NO2 pollution.
The last 2 plans have been ruled inadequate by the courts. The final plan was published on 26 July 2017.
Why is this important?
40,000 premature deaths are linked to air pollution in the UK each year.
Dirty air leads to worsening asthma symptoms, heart disease and even lung cancer, and can lead to children growing up with smaller lungs.
Every delay in action costs lives.
What should be done
Friends of the Earth set out a plan for clean air everywhere outlining how the government could end toxic air pollution for good.
This includes:
A plan to end illegal air pollution in 2018
A diesel scrappage scheme to help people shift to clean vehicles
Changes to road tax to deter diesel use
A comprehensive network of plug-in points for electric vehicles by 2025
Huge investment in public transport, walking and cycling routes
A new Clean Air Act for the whole country to curb all types of air pollution
Unfortunately our government hasn’t passed the test.
