Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

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Psamathe
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Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by Psamathe »

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/16/girls-death-contributed-to-by-air-pollution-coroner-rules-in-landmark-case wrote:Air pollution caused girl's death, coroner rules in landmark case
...
She was exposed, he said, to nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter (PM) pollution in excess of the World Health Organisation guidelines, the principle source of which were traffic emissions.

So will the Government actually start acting now or will they follow their well tried and well used path e.g. "lessons have been learnt" and "we've invested £<some daft untrue number>" or just appeal the decision in a higher court.

Ian
grufty
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by grufty »

Let's hope for action from the government!

Hats off to her family for having the foresight and tenacity to gather the evidence. Hopefully they can get some comfort from this.
thirdcrank
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by thirdcrank »

Meanwhile, also in today's news, the enemies of the people have given the third Heathrow runway the green light

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55322340

Now, all it needs is for that anti-bulldozer chappie to lie in front of them ......
reohn2
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by reohn2 »

grufty wrote:Let's hope for action from the government!

We'll get promises but little else of use.

Hats off to her family for having the foresight and tenacity to gather the evidence. Hopefully they can get some comfort from this.

There'll be little comfort for them I fear.
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grufty
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by grufty »

Apologies reohn2 if I've unwittingly reopened a wound..
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mjr
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by mjr »

thirdcrank wrote:Now, all it needs is for that anti-bulldozer chappie to lie in front of them ......

And then argue that seeing as he is going to lie there indefinitely, they might as well take it as read that he is doing so, and all clear off for lunch.

I'm pretty sure that was fiction. Much like government Air Quality Action Plans, which seem to consist of moving polluting traffic away from sensors by such tricks as:
· converting bus gates and cycleways to carriageways (because those sections currently have no pollution problem so no permanent sensors so it'll take a few years for the trick to make things worse, by which time the politicians approving it will have moved on to higher office),
· turning 1+1 wide-lane not-too-bad-for-cycling roads into 2+1 narrow-lane danger-width roads (thereby moving half the queue of cars further away from the sensors which are on/by buildings, and consolidating all their pollution into one shorter-but-wider smog spot) and
· simply planting screening trees along the edges of streets, in front of the monitoring station (and never mind that they also block the view of people wanting to cross the road).
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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reohn2
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by reohn2 »

grufty wrote:Apologies reohn2 if I've unwittingly reopened a wound..

Not at all,it's just that i've no faith in anything this PM or his government or any other in past 20 years,promise or say.
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thirdcrank
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by thirdcrank »

Another failed attempt at humour from me. (Lie, as opposed to lie down.)

I don't think fiddling pollution data is the preserve of a single party. Around here, it seems to have been common, no matter what the party in power.
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mjr
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by mjr »

thirdcrank wrote:Another failed attempt at humour from me. (Lie, as opposed to lie down.)

I know where you were going. I just decided to turn it into a Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy reference...

I don't think fiddling pollution data is the preserve of a single party. Around here, it seems to have been common, no matter what the party in power.

Nobody has limited their criticism to a single party.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by al_yrpal »

Along with climate change air pollution is being addressed by the successive powers that be. To say there has been no action is untrue. The question is has it been timely and is the progress enough?
The answer is obviously no but thinking back to when I was a child we are many times better off than we were then. Coal fires, innefficient vehicles spewing out neat petrol fumes, lorries with black smoke pouring out. Steam trains. Coal gas coking plants. The dreadful phurnacite plant in South Wales, unrestrained industrial pollution. Not being able to see your hand in front of your face was a reality. I have done it.
Now we have efficient IC engines, catylitic coverters, anti pollutant injection on big diesel vehicles, the closure of coal fired power stations, wind and solar power becoming more economical and gradually replacing fossil fuels. Bike lanes. And, we have emmision targets defined in law. Its not good enough to simply blame governments.
I know that section of the South Circular road, its horrendous. What to do? The only thing I can think of is to evacuate all the houses along that section and plant trees where they once stood. Make it a no go zone.
The new runway at Heathrow has just got the go ahead. Much of the pollution there comes from the motor traffic generated by the airport. The whole thing should be stopped IMO and the Severn Barrage funded instead. The birds will cope.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Psamathe
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by Psamathe »

al_yrpal wrote:...
I know that section of the South Circular road, its horrendous. What to do?...l

Reduce polluting traffic levels.

Ian
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mjr
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by mjr »

Psamathe wrote:
al_yrpal wrote:...
I know that section of the South Circular road, its horrendous. What to do?...l

Reduce polluting traffic levels.

And yet, that is so unthinkable to some people that demolishing homes is suggested instead... we've a long way to go.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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al_yrpal
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by al_yrpal »

Psamathe wrote:
al_yrpal wrote:...
I know that section of the South Circular road, its horrendous. What to do?...l

Reduce polluting traffic levels.

Ian


I believe that section is already in the low pollution area. Its all very well suggesting remedies without practical solutions, but how? Insist on everyone driving milk floats? Ban heavy vehicles? Limit traffic by odd and even number plates like Beijing? Bikes only?

That isnt the only section of Britains roads to suffer very high levels of pollution, what about limiting them in some way? The Oslo solution.....road pricing?

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Psamathe
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by Psamathe »

al_yrpal wrote:
Psamathe wrote:
al_yrpal wrote:...
I know that section of the South Circular road, its horrendous. What to do?...l

Reduce polluting traffic levels.

Ian


I believe that section is already in the low pollution area. Its all very well suggesting remedies without practical solutions, but how? Insist on everyone driving milk floats? Ban heavy vehicles? Limit traffic by odd and even number plates like Beijing? Bikes only?

That isnt the only section of Britains roads to suffer very high levels of pollution, what about limiting them in some way? The Oslo solution.....road pricing?

Al

There are many options available and most appropriate will depend on the road e.g. alternative transport options (cycle lanes, low cost public transport, additional charges for polluting vehicles, etc.). I don't know the mix of traffic on that particular road but we pay people to sort out these things and we cannot go on poisoning our atmosphere, particularly given the impact on people.

Ian
reohn2
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Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

Post by reohn2 »

The problem is that people want too keep driving their cars into already congested towns and cities,forward thinkng governments stop or severely restrict such papractices.Uk governments don't for fear of losing votes.
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