Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South East England, is calling for public transport across South East England to be made free within cities and towns today to combat the very extreme levels of air pollution that is expected across the region.
This follows
Paris’s example where the authorities made public transport free
during a smog episode last year.
In previous pollution alerts France also imposed a reduced speed limit for traffic.
Alongside this the Mayor reduced city centre access for vehicles alternating with odd and even registration numbers. Similarly the Mayor is also talking about removing diesel vehicles (which are responsible for particulate emissions and NO2) completely.
Alongside this the Mayor reduced city centre access for vehicles alternating with odd and even registration numbers. Similarly the Mayor is also talking about removing diesel vehicles (which are responsible for particulate emissions and NO2) completely.
Experts have
recently suggested that the death toll from air pollution, usually
put at around 29,000 a year in the UK, could be substantially higher
because of the effect of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), emitted
during fossil fuel burning, which up until now has not been taken
into account.
Next Thursday 16th
April the Government are being taken to court by Environmental group
Client Earth over consistently high
levels of air pollution that break EU rules.
Keith
Taylor Green MEP for South East England said:
Measures such as making public transport free for the day should be considered during serious smog episodes in Britain such as the one we’re experiencing today. Previous actions taken in Paris shows they recognise the unrest caused by air pollution and that they are prepared to take action.
The Green Party has been warning everyone for years about the serious health problems that are associated with air pollution.How many deaths does it have to take before the Government will properly act?
