Government Cut Down on Polluting Cars
People that drive very old and polluting vehicles within Central London will be charged with an additional £10 fine, to reduce ‘toxicity’ levels.
According to the World Health Organisation, some researchers estimated that exposure to pollution causes 40% of deaths annually worldwide.
Within five days into 2017, a road in London exceeded its permitted annual level of nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen oxide is very dangerous and harmful for people with asthma, as it increases the frequency of them getting critical and severe attacks.
According to Sky News Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London called the toxicity charge the “toughest emission standard of any major city” and claimed it was overwhelmingly backed by Londoners because they wanted immediate action to tackle air pollution.
In future, Mr Khan is aiming to get the world’s first “ultra-low emission zone”, which will fine more polluting cars, and it is aimed to start from 2019.
The government introduced this because the harmful gases found in vehicle pollution can lead to children growing up with breathing and respiratory problems. The pollution is comprised of various poisonous substances, including Particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and more. These then form particles in the atmosphere, called PM2.5. These are especially damaging to the lungs, because of their miniature size. They also increase the number of symptoms present of people suffering from lung diseases.
In Australia, they have also tried to combat ‘toxicity’ levels by trying to manage and reduce the amount of nitrogen dioxide produced. They have tried to develop and promote alternative fuels, promoted use of bicycles for short journeys and more.
DGSChapter asked Councillor Mandy Garford, Labour Councillor for Stone Parish Dartford, to see her views about the Toxicity charge and whether she thinks it could help to combat rising pollution levels. She said, “In 1956 the Clean Air Act was passed but far too little has been done to tackle the current crisis. This week London’s pollution has hit the American news and was featured in the New York Times. It is of huge concern that at times our air is over legal limits.
Sadiq Khan has said that from October vehicles with heaviest emissions will pay £21.50 to enter London… an extra £10 above the congestion charge. We should be clear that this is not a call for diesel to be banned as experts have advised that we should tackle greenhouse emissions.
Sadiq will also be changing the London buses to a cleaner fuel, making public transport more accessible, taking on London’s first ever cycling commissioner and other things. The extra £10 is part of a package as this is an issue that needs to be looked at from many angles. Many in Labour have called for a new clean air act and I think this is something that we should push for. I believe that something drastic has to be done. 40,000 people die nationally as a result of poor air quality. This is not an issue we can ignore.”