That the government is now at last being forced to do more to reduce the dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution is welcome news (Court defeat for government on air pollution, 3 November). More than a year on from the “dieselgate” revelations, ministers should have been in no doubt about the dishonest and illegal methods used by some manufacturers to cheat emissions tests. Not only has the government failed to update its pollution modelling based on realistic emissions figures, it has also done nothing to support the 1.2 million UK diesel vehicle owners caught up in this scandal.
If anything, the government seems to be going out of its way to protect manufacturers. Cars fitted with the defeat device software are still able to pass MOT emissions tests, so the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency seems to have turned a blind eye to this.
Compare this with the situation in the US, where the Environmental Protection Agency has successfully prosecuted VW and arranged for diesel owners to be compensated. In the UK, it seems, Defra does nothing. Successful prosecution here would send a clear message to all manufacturers to be honest with their emissions and fuel economy figures. In addition, the introduction of on-the-road testing, rather than the static lab testing presently used, would provide more reliable figures.
Alan Beamish
Thirlby, North Yorkshire
• Your editorial (9 November) is right to call on government to address the UK’s dangerous problem of air pollution by reprioritising greener transport, but failed to mention in its proposed solutions the most environmentally friendly and cost effective modes of all: cycling and walking.
Cycling’s bang for its buck outstrips every other mode of transport, with conservative Department for Transport estimates showing that for every pound spent, the economy takes five back, particularly in terms of health and reduced congestion. We still await the government’s promised Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy which currently allocates just 72p per person for cycling and walking in 2021. Our level of investment in motorways and A-roads at the same time will be £84 a head. If government wants to make a real difference to cleaning our air, then let’s rebalance this spend, and give everyone the opportunity to choose cycling for shorter every day journeys.
David Murray
Head of campaigns, Cycling UK
• George Monbiot (Cars don’t just choke our children. They tear a hole in our communities, 9 November) is right that air pollution is a public health emergency. Yet our local council still proposes to build hundreds of homes on the wrong side of our town for commuter travel, thus putting up to a thousand extra cars on the streets of a medieval town. This is despite declaring an Air Quality Management Area across the whole town and despite its own highways assessments that predict an average 350% increase in traffic queues at peak times. It seems that no health emergency is severe enough to stop relentless development in the face of all the evidence. When the revised plan goes to the Planning Inspectorate we will see how seriously the government takes this issue.
Richard Gilyead
Saffron Walden, Essex
• George Monbiot is right to draw attention to the need to reduce pollution from traffic. However, what he may not realise is that this is being used as a smokescreen to distract attention from the much more serious issue of indoor air pollution. According to the World Health Organisation and many other scientific bodies, hazardous chemicals found in indoor air are at least five times more damaging to health than external air pollution.
The government has told its committee on the medical effects of air pollutants to ignore internal air and concentrate on external. This means that the occupants of increasingly airtight buildings are at risk of asthma, respiratory problems and cancer from breathing in dangerous chemicals emitted inside buildings.
Dr Tom Woolley
Crossgar, County Down
• George Monbiot underestimates the damage to our communities from the motor car. Where roads are safe and children can play out in them as they have done for countless generations, then parents talk to each other and speak of “keeping an eye out for each other’s children”. The damage to feelings of community means that the neighbourhood feels full of strangers rather than friends and acquaintances. This explains the exponential rise in fear of “stranger danger” which has no basis in evidence. Children’s loss of freedom to play outside results in lack of exercise and consequential obesity.
Rob Wheway
Children’s Play Advisory Service
• Once again George Monbiot tells us what we need to – but often would rather not – hear. The car has given as many problems as solutions for mankind. And as regards the freedom it brings us, it comes in inverse proportion to that of other people, both locally and globally.
Barry O’Donovan
London
• When John Prescott as transport minister imposed the same duty on biodiesel as on ordinary diesel he stopped the development of the biodiesel industry. If you want to improve air quality in London and our other major cities quickly and effectively, cut the duty on biodiesel . Coach operators road hauliers and private motorists would all start using biodiesel again. Biodiesel does not contain the same harmful particulates one finds in ordinary diesel. If one stands on Highgate Hill and looks out across London one can see a cloud of smog over the city as if London was sitting in a bowl. Londoners are breathing that air. When I visit London after a day or so, if I wipe my nose, I find soot on my handkerchief.
Nigel Boddy
Darlington
• George Monbiot’s article on cars and pollution never mentioned the important role of free bus passes . My wife and I use our passes when ever we can , rather than our own transport. We have a small campervan that is our only transport. I believe that bus passes are an important way to cut back on car use, I always feel that we are making a sound evironmental choice. When visiting cities we use park and rides, or else purchase cheap rail tickets on line. We are both concerned about climate change, always looking for ways in which we can make a difference. Every little counts is my belief.
Brian Woods
Weymouth, Dorset
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