FORUM: We can’t stand still on air quality crisis

Main Image : 

Published: 28 January, 2011
by MICHAEL COFFEY

As the capital continues to choke on toxic emissions, calls on motorists to make an Olympic effort to switch their engines off 

IN the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, British newspapers speculated whether the air quality in China’s capital would affect athletes’ performance, or if spectators would be able to peer through the haze and enjoy the Games at all.  

In the end dramatic government action put Beijing’s transport and industry on hold to enable the air to clear. So, with our Mayor’s own pledge to make 2012 the “green Games”, let’s not be surprised if the Chinese Press start getting sniffy about the dubious quality of air in London.  

The irony is that bad air quality does most harm not to superfit athletes, but to the most vulnerable members of our society – the elderly and small children. 

Long after the Games are over, they will continue to be at risk. Greater London Authority (GLA) studies show that more than 4,200 deaths a year in our city are directly related to respiratory failure and disease caused by air pollution; a parliamentary report has claimed that this could be as high as 8,000. Studies in east London indicate that our school children’s respiratory health is below the national average.

Meanwhile, the UK government is in the embarrassing position of applying to the EU for a five-year extension to meet air quality targets agreed by member states. Games or no Games, these are not the signs of a world-class city.

Since 2003, emissions of two very dangerous pollutants, nitrogen dioxide (NOx) and fine particles (PM10), have been rising in central London. Both are a deadly hazard for toddlers and pensioners, and both come overwhelmingly from vehicles – NOx mainly from coaches and buses, PM10 from taxis, cars and vans.  

Now, vehicle use in London is a long-term challenge and an emotional issue for drivers, cyclists and businesses. There is no magic wand or Chinese-style government diktat that can cleanse our air of traffic pollution overnight. Nor is this another article bashing cabbies or 4x4 owners. I am offering instead a challenge, and a chance for you all to make a difference to the state of the air we breathe. 

It’s this: turn off your engine when you’re parked.

It’s not the whole solution, but it is the easiest. Idling an engine burns pricey petrol and is actually harder on the motor, making it an expensive and completely unnecessary form of pollution. New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and other cities have already addressed the problem of idling engines. In fact, in London, engine idling is in theory liable to a £20 fixed penalty fine. But real action here is still subject to countless worthy “strategies”, “consultations”, and “ongoing dialogues”. Cutting out idling is an obvious win-win – saving lives while saving yourself money – but there’s so much bureaucracy stopping it happening.

The Green Party believes that the harm being done to our citizens is so great that we can’t afford to wait for strategy documents (Boris Johnson is giving himself the rest of 2011 to come up with a policy on idling), and our police have better things to do than run around fining drivers. The solution lies with all of us.  

Cabbies’ organisations are already supportive. We are calling on them, Transport for London, private hire firms, delivery companies, coach operators, tradesmen and all the businesses in central London that use them not to wait for Boris and the wardens but to make a clear, open, voluntary pledge now:

“WE DON’T IDLE.”

It could be a good message for your business. It would definitely be great news for London.

• Michael Coffey is Small Business Spokesman for the Green Party and a central London resident