Breathe Better with ULEZ

 

Most of us would do almost anything for our children, especially if doctors tell us it’s vital for their health. And doctors have told us:

“Exposure to air pollution has health effects at every stage of life, from before birth into old age. The damage is sometimes gradual, and may not be apparent for many years.” - Royal College of Physicians

 

 

Well unfortunately London’s air is pretty filthy, even if the pollution is not visible to the eye. Our government has failed to bring the UK within legal limits, let alone the World Health Organization guidelines. London-wide the bad air causes approximately 4,000 premature deaths each year – about 150 of those in Ealing. Many more suffer from long term diseases, such as chronic asthma which affects over half a million Londoners.

So what can we do? There’s no magic bullet that will make our air instantly clean, but there are steps we can take.

A lot of the pollution comes from the exhaust fumes of cars. The Acton end of Ealing Borough – the part east of Hanger Lane and Gunnersbury Avenue - is already in the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) which discourages the dirtiest vehicles from entering. They pay a charge if they do, which by law, can only be spent on improving transport.

In August 2023 the ULEZ will expand to cover all outer London boroughs, bringing the rest of Ealing under the same protection. It’s not perfect and it’s hard for people who have to change their car. But it will lower pollution – and if that saves you or your loved ones from a serious lung disease, it’s priceless.

The mayor is giving £110 million in scrappage grants to Londoners on low incomes, charities, and small businesses whose vehicles would have to pay the charge. Find out more about the ULEZ and scrappage scheme on the tfl ULEZwebsite.

 

There are other things you can do too.

Top of the list: don’t install solid-fuel fires such as log or coal burners. Yes, they have a cosy village cottage image - but we live in a city of 9 million, not a village. The terrible killer smogs of the 1950s were caused by the thousands of coal fires that heated homes back then. Getting rid of them was the best thing we did. Wood smoke might smell more homely but it’s just as full of toxic carcinogens. And in any case, wood stoves are becoming such a serious source of pollution, that there is likely to be pressure to ban them – so if you buy one you might find that the only thing that has gone up in smoke is your money.

Back with travel, some of the air pollution road traffic causes is dust from the tyres and brakes. Even electric vehicles pollute in that way. So as much as you can:

• Walk or cycle – they are the cleanest and healthiest ways to travel. We need to make it easier and safer, as it is in Holland and Denmark. Take a look at the cycling facilities the Dutch enjoy.

• Use public transport. - trains in London are mostly electric, and increasingly buses will be.

There are other good health reasons to avoid driving, not just lowering air pollution. The UK is suffering an epidemic of obesity and doctors are urging us to take exercise. Even just the walk to the bus stop, or up and down the steps at the railway station, will contribute to health, and unlike a gym treadmill, it’s free, it’s useful, and it easily becomes routine.

 

Lastly, if you do drive, try to avoid idling your engine when stationary for long periods. It reduces pollution, and your fuel bill too. There are often signs telling you to do this, some even with fines, but drivers find it hard to remember.

 

 

Protecting Londoners’ health and especially our children, really does have to come first. That’s why Friends of the Earth supports the expansion of ULEZ and we hope others will too. For further information see our website and the UK Friends of the Earth’s Air Pollution overview.

Wasting Expensive Gas

Families would not be struggling to pay high gas bills if the government had implemented policies to develop renewable energy and insulate our building stock.

The UK's housing is draughty, wastes energy, and relies on fossil fuels that pollute our atmosphere.

We can upgrade Britain’s housing so that everyone can come home to a warm, comfortable home. 

Support the Great Homes Upgrade campaign https://greathomesupgrade.org

 

Government Going Backwards

The UK had a zero carbon homes policy - first announced in 2006. The Conservative government scrapped the regulations in 2015 in a move Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, said was “the death knell” for the zero carbon homes policy.

“It is short-sighted, unnecessary, retrograde and damaging to the house-building industry, which has invested heavily in delivering energy-efficient homes,” Hirigoyen said. “Britain needs more housing but there is no justification for building homes with a permanent legacy of high energy bills.”

Six years on we are still going backwards. Let's press the government to see sense.

 

London Overheating

Temperatures in Canada broke records for the third day running on Tuesday 29th June 2021: 49.6C (121.3F) in Lytton, British Columbia. [BBC: Canada weather: Dozens dead as heatwave shatters records]

Could extreme heat waves happen in London? The UK Met Office thinks ‘YES’. It released this Weather forecast for July 2050 based on UK Climate Projections.

The UK government has an opportunity to set an example on tackling the climate crisis, when it hosts the international COP26 climate conference this November (2021). But to do that, it needs to stop widening motorways, not allow new coal mines or new oil exploration in the North Sea, and require car manufacturers to promote small, light cars instead of the massive, energy-guzzling, Chelsea tractors (SUVs) that they are currently so keen to sell.

Ealing residents: if we don't want ourselves or our children and grandchildren to suffer these unbearable temperatures, then lets press the politicians to act on climate change and not give in to the petroleum lobby. In the Netherlands, 26% of journeys are made by bike, in Denmark it's 18%, but in England it's a miserable 2% ... surely we in Ealing can do better than that!

Environment Hustings for Ealing and Hillingdon London Assembly candidates

Do London’s political candidates think the climate is a priority?

Wednesday April 28 2021

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM  On-Line, Free.

Come and find out how important the climate emergency is to the candidates for the Ealing and Hillingdon London Assembly seat at an online hustings. We will be asking them to sign a Climate Action Pledge which will commit them to making the climate a top priority.

Our representative will also have influence on the Mayor to push for a clean, green and fair future – locally in Ealing and Hillingdon and at a London-wide level too.

For more information, and how to register, see here:

Do London’s political candidates think the climate is a priority?

On-Line Zoom Meeting: Please register at the above link to attend. Free.

UN: Pledge to take part in the fight against climate change

 

The United Nations climate conference COP26 in Glasgow in November hosted by the UK, is fast approaching.

 

 

 

The UN has a Citizens Climate Pledge for people to sign, a carbon footprint calculator, and suggested actions for individuals to take:

I am a Citizen

 

All the more urgent, when ...

In the news this January

Sobering new report says world is failing to grasp the extent of threats posed by biodiversity loss and the climate crisis.

[Guardian 13th January]

 

 

Climate crisis: world is at its hottest for at least 12,000 years

[Guardian 27th January]

Citizen's Assembly Reaches Judgement

 

UK Citizen's Assembly

The first UK-wide citizens’ assembly on climate change has published its final report. The assembly was set up by the House of Commons and brought together 100+ people from all walks of life and of all shades of opinion to discuss how the UK should meet its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.

Find out more and see what they concluded here: https://www.climateassembly.uk/ 

Among their suggestions is a stopping the sale of the most polluting vehicles such as SUVs, with some support for an outright ban on SUVs. A conclusion that is all the more understandable given that ...

SUVs are 2nd Largest Cause of Global Rise in CO2 Emissions Over Past Decade

International Energy Agency researchers have found that SUVs are the second largest cause of the global rise in carbon dioxide emissions over the past decade, eclipsing all shipping, aviation, heavy industry and even trucks. Each year, SUVs belch out 700 megatonnes of CO2, about the entire output of the UK and Netherlands combined. There are now campaigns to at the very least ban SUV advertising as a first step to curbing these filthy monsters.

Full story in the Guardian: How SUVs conquered the world – at the expense of its climate

Killing Machines

It's not just the pollution and environmental destruction. In an accident, the high sides of SUVs tend to strike pedestrians and cyclists on the upper torso, meaning that they are more likely to go under the car and be crushed. A study in three Michigan cities found that one hundred percent of pedestrians in SUV collisions at speeds of 40 mph or greater died, versus 54 percent who were struck by cars. Children, being shorter, are especially menaced by these vehicles.

Ealing Council LTN Consultation

Ealing Council has rolled out an on-line consultation on its Low Traffic Neighbourhoods based on an interactive map. You can learn about the review and monitoring of the LTNs and make your comments on Ealing's trial low traffic neighbourhoods project on Commonplace by clicking 'View map and comment'. 

 

We need new green jobs, not a bail-out of the planet-destroying industries

As we emerge from lock down, the world has to create new jobs in the green industries of the future, not bail out big-oil and aviation whose emissions are putting our very existence on this planet in peril. Temperatures this month have been as high as an astonishing 38C in the Siberian Arctic. [See: "Arctic Circle sees 'highest-ever' recorded temperatures"]

It's urgent that the UK government fully backs plans by local councils such as Ealing's to go carbon neutral ASAP and matches those efforts with a national plan.

The science is clear. Failure to act would mean that we would stumble out of the Covid crisis only to face a looming and far worse climate catastrophe.