I've got no problem with someone worrying about my health, don't pick and choose though. Would we not have a healthier London if we banned alcohol, smoking and sugar?
Does anyone know if the ulez cameras will be the same ones used for project detroit?
Yes, that's my understanding.
This isn't the last ULEZ thread we were commenting on but on that one, I told you that ULEZ was the trojan house that Khan was using to introduce road pricing in London. A few people needless to say LOL but I knew for a fact a huge amount of work was going on in TFL on road pricing and the ULEZ cameras were the first step in the process.
There was a big article in the Telegraph recently confirming this work. Its called project Detroit as you say above.
Road pricing is probably the way road taxation will go as the amount of Fuel Duty collected by the government falls off a cliff over coming years. But most experts in the field argue that road pricing charges should be instead of the existing taxes.
But Khan can only make this pricing additional to existing taxation as he doesn't control national taxation.
So it's simple. If Khan is reelected, you will pay for every mile you drive in London if he has his way. And this will be additional to the existing VED and Fuel Duty you are already paying.
So if ULEZ is a Trojan horse for road pricing by the mile, presumably when that comes in any and every vehicle will be able to use any and every road throughout the Greater London area, even if puffing out huge pollution into the air from their exhaust pipes. Road pricing comes in alongside an increase in air pollution?
Does anyone know if the ulez cameras will be the same ones used for project detroit?
Yes, that's my understanding.
This isn't the last ULEZ thread we were commenting on but on that one, I told you that ULEZ was the trojan house that Khan was using to introduce road pricing in London. A few people needless to say LOL but I knew for a fact a huge amount of work was going on in TFL on road pricing and the ULEZ cameras were the first step in the process.
There was a big article in the Telegraph recently confirming this work. Its called project Detroit as you say above.
Road pricing is probably the way road taxation will go as the amount of Fuel Duty collected by the government falls off a cliff over coming years. But most experts in the field argue that road pricing charges should be instead of the existing taxes.
But Khan can only make this pricing additional to existing taxation as he doesn't control national taxation.
So it's simple. If Khan is reelected, you will pay for every mile you drive in London if he has his way. And this will be additional to the existing VED and Fuel Duty you are already paying.
Interesting how a thread about it being extended to the South Circular only made it to 7 pages or so.
Surely if you drive a car in London you don't just drive around the outskirts of London, especially if you do it for work? Now a cynic may say it's due to Tory fear mongering. If pay for a mile is coming, why would the Tories not be for it? Afterall this was their idea in the first place?
Interesting how a thread about it being extended to the South Circular only made it to 7 pages or so.
Surely if you drive a car in London you don't just drive around the outskirts of London, especially if you do it for work? Now a cynic may say it's due to Tory fear mongering. If pay for a mile is coming, why would the Tories not be for it? Afterall this was their idea in the first place?
As ULEZ is now extended to the M25 this thread is past the sell by date.
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
China are actually making massive strides in the green technology space. They are adapting incredibly quickly and selling huge amounts to the west.
There was always going to be a green led economic boom for the economies that invested in the technology and got there first. There is still massive scope for development (see solid state batteries) but it seems the west has sat with its head in the sand rather than seize the opportunity presented and so have allowed China a massive head start.
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
That's fine Stig, as long as we're all able to acknowledge that we're all sacrificing our disposable income and general quality of life to make zero impact on climate change. It's one hell of a deal!
I've got no problem with someone worrying about my health, don't pick and choose though. Would we not have a healthier London if we banned alcohol, smoking and sugar?
Does anyone know if the ulez cameras will be the same ones used for project detroit?
Yes, that's my understanding.
This isn't the last ULEZ thread we were commenting on but on that one, I told you that ULEZ was the trojan house that Khan was using to introduce road pricing in London. A few people needless to say LOL but I knew for a fact a huge amount of work was going on in TFL on road pricing and the ULEZ cameras were the first step in the process.
There was a big article in the Telegraph recently confirming this work. Its called project Detroit as you say above.
Road pricing is probably the way road taxation will go as the amount of Fuel Duty collected by the government falls off a cliff over coming years. But most experts in the field argue that road pricing charges should be instead of the existing taxes.
But Khan can only make this pricing additional to existing taxation as he doesn't control national taxation.
So it's simple. If Khan is reelected, you will pay for every mile you drive in London if he has his way. And this will be additional to the existing VED and Fuel Duty you are already paying.
You have been warned!
So if Khan does not get re-elected you think pay per mile will go away? It wont! As you say, fuel duty will fall off a cliff, but that's the same all over the country. It's not some tiny loophole that Khan has spotted and will exploit like he is some kind of crazy Bond villan!
Pay per mile could always be focused based on banding. It could make sense that the cleanest cars pay more per mile than combusion engines who are paying tax through tax on the fuel. This does depend on how extreme they wanted to be towards the most polluting vehicles and how many are actually still on the road when pay per mile tax come in, which is quite a way off yet, certainly not within the next term of whoever is London Mayor.
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
That's fine Stig, as long as we're all able to acknowledge that we're all sacrificing our disposable income and general quality of life to make zero impact on climate change. It's one hell of a deal!
Improving the environment, including the air that we breathe, as well as improving the chances that our children and grandchildren actually have a planet to live on, is probably worth ‘sacrificing [a bit of] our disposable income’. In fact there’s plenty of evidence to suggest we’ll be better off in the long run using renewable energy. All these things improve our quality of life, so how would it be ‘sacrificing our quality of life’?
Anyway, why are you so obsessed with commenting on London’s mayor and our environmental controls when you live in Canada?
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
That's fine Stig, as long as we're all able to acknowledge that we're all sacrificing our disposable income and general quality of life to make zero impact on climate change. It's one hell of a deal!
Improving the environment, including the air that we breathe, as well as improving the chances that our children and grandchildren actually have a planet to live on, is probably worth ‘sacrificing [a bit of] our disposable income’. In fact there’s plenty of evidence to suggest we’ll be better off in the long run using renewable energy. All these things improve our quality of life, so how would it be ‘sacrificing our quality of life’?
Anyway, why are you so obsessed with commenting on London’s mayor and our environmental controls when you live in Canada?
And of course the fact that renewables actually cost 20-25% of non-renewables and so moving in that direction will actually bring down peoples energy and heating bills - giving more disposable income. its only because the formula for setting energy prices is based on the marginal cost that this hasn't fed through into current prices, and that the energy companies are so powerful and lobby very successfully that has prevented governments from taking actions that might dent their 700% annual increase in profits.
The environment is in crisis, me being a veggie to help the planet is as nothing compared to a coal fired power station anywhere, but it is not actually nothing. It is a tiny step well worth doing…even if I am doing it badly. So what if others elsewhere are selfish greedy people? We all have a chance to do something however little. On the basis of that reasoning ULEZ is well worth it.
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
That's fine Stig, as long as we're all able to acknowledge that we're all sacrificing our disposable income and general quality of life to make zero impact on climate change. It's one hell of a deal!
People all over the world are already have their quality of life affected by things like pollution and climate change, we can't keep kicking the can down the road and hope that all will be ok. It needs us all to put pressure on all politicians to make the right decisions, not to keep putting off those decisions because they are too difficult.
We have one planet and it needs everyone to do their part, to make sure that the quality of life for future generations is as good as it can be.
Others have said that you live in Canada, which last year suffered very badly from the effects of Climate Change and the pollution caused by wildfires, it will only get worse and your quality of life will deteriorate as a result.
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
That's fine Stig, as long as we're all able to acknowledge that we're all sacrificing our disposable income and general quality of life to make zero impact on climate change. It's one hell of a deal!
You are right, it is a hell of a deal. As Michael Gove, then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated in his forward to the Government’s Clean Air Strategy (2019), “Air pollution is the top environmental risk to human health in the UK, and the fourth greatest threat to public health after cancer, heart disease and obesity”. The cost of this pollution isn’t just to our health though, there is a very real economic cost. Gove estimates that reducing emissions could “cut the costs of air pollution to society by £1.7 billion every year by 2020, rising to £5.3 billion every year from 2030”. Being dirty costs us money.
Because of the seriousness of this issue, the UK has agreed to legally- binding international targets. The responsibility for meeting those targets for London has been devolved to the Mayor.
Since then, the UK Government’s Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants has advised that whilst it is appropriate to focus on reducing air pollution to the WHO’s target level, that even pollution at this level can be harmful to public health. They state that it would benefit public health to reduce concentrations below the World Health Organisation targets.
A 2021 study by Imperial College has found that:
Over 3,000 Londoners died prematurely in 2019 as a result of man-made air pollutants.
The introduction of The Mayor’s air quality policies would raise average life expectancy by 5 to 6 months (for a child born in 2013).
The difference in these policies being introduced and maintained or not would be 6.1 million life-years.
The environment is in crisis, me being a veggie to help the planet......
You really believe that being a vegetarian is HELPING the planet?
Jesus wept.
Yes really. I have acknowledged that it is a tiny contribution to the problem (I do other things too) but as I have already said, something is better than nothing. Is there a reason for quoting my post and making a disparaging comment, as in the ‘Jesus wept’ bit?
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
That's fine Stig, as long as we're all able to acknowledge that we're all sacrificing our disposable income and general quality of life to make zero impact on climate change. It's one hell of a deal!
Improving the environment, including the air that we breathe, as well as improving the chances that our children and grandchildren actually have a planet to live on, is probably worth ‘sacrificing [a bit of] our disposable income’. In fact there’s plenty of evidence to suggest we’ll be better off in the long run using renewable energy. All these things improve our quality of life, so how would it be ‘sacrificing our quality of life’?
Anyway, why are you so obsessed with commenting on London’s mayor and our environmental controls when you live in Canada?
And of course the fact that renewables actually cost 20-25% of non-renewables and so moving in that direction will actually bring down peoples energy and heating bills - giving more disposable income. its only because the formula for setting energy prices is based on the marginal cost that this hasn't fed through into current prices, and that the energy companies are so powerful and lobby very successfully that has prevented governments from taking actions that might dent their 700% annual increase in profits.
Public ownership, or joint ownership is the way forward. Water too imho. Polling suggests that there’s a lot of support for it.
The environment is in crisis, me being a veggie to help the planet is as nothing compared to a coal fired power station anywhere, but it is not actually nothing. It is a tiny step well worth doing…even if I am doing it badly. So what if others elsewhere are selfish greedy people? We all have a chance to do something however little. On the basis of that reasoning ULEZ is well worth it.
Exactly this Seth.
It's not just the small impacts we can have by making sustainable swaps in our lives but also the signalling effects this has. It tells companies and political parties that this is an important issue and it leads them to pushing this up their thinking and so prioritising it further. Which leads to more positive change.
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
That's fine Stig, as long as we're all able to acknowledge that we're all sacrificing our disposable income and general quality of life to make zero impact on climate change. It's one hell of a deal!
People all over the world are already have their quality of life affected by things like pollution and climate change, we can't keep kicking the can down the road and hope that all will be ok. It needs us all to put pressure on all politicians to make the right decisions, not to keep putting off those decisions because they are too difficult.
We have one planet and it needs everyone to do their part, to make sure that the quality of life for future generations is as good as it can be.
Others have said that you live in Canada, which last year suffered very badly from the effects of Climate Change and the pollution caused by wildfires, it will only get worse and your quality of life will deteriorate as a result.
Quality of life is a massive red herring in the climate change argument anyway. The bigger challenges to quality of life are things like the cost of living crisis and multinational corporations having too much power due to the overextention of the current form of capitalism. Large social reform is needed to tackle all of them.
Blue Badge holders are exempt from the congestion charge .. does the same apply to Ulez ?
I believe they get an exemption, a neighbour of mine has a diesel discovery, he has a blue badge and doesn’t pay ULEZ.
Anyone know how this works/in enforced in practice? Particularly as a blue bade is registered to a person not a vehicle? Just wondering as my wife's Gran has one but the person that usually drives her on longer journeys car isn't ulez compliant so makes it harder for her to visit us.
Weird how people cheer on a car free existence. I appreciate there are downsides but the reason so many people own cars is because they give you freedom to do the things you love (when they're not being used to commute).
We're championing policies that will ensure our future generations have less freedom than we do/did for very little gain.
Climate change is a bugger isn't it. If only we could roll the clock back and pretend everything is rosy.
As if punishing people living in Bromley is the goal to fixing climate change.
Don't worry Xi Jinping and his coal burning empire are closely watching the habits of Charlton fans to understand how to proceed next.
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
That's fine Stig, as long as we're all able to acknowledge that we're all sacrificing our disposable income and general quality of life to make zero impact on climate change. It's one hell of a deal!
Improving the environment, including the air that we breathe, as well as improving the chances that our children and grandchildren actually have a planet to live on, is probably worth ‘sacrificing [a bit of] our disposable income’. In fact there’s plenty of evidence to suggest we’ll be better off in the long run using renewable energy. All these things improve our quality of life, so how would it be ‘sacrificing our quality of life’?
Anyway, why are you so obsessed with commenting on London’s mayor and our environmental controls when you live in Canada?
And of course the fact that renewables actually cost 20-25% of non-renewables and so moving in that direction will actually bring down peoples energy and heating bills - giving more disposable income. its only because the formula for setting energy prices is based on the marginal cost that this hasn't fed through into current prices, and that the energy companies are so powerful and lobby very successfully that has prevented governments from taking actions that might dent their 700% annual increase in profits.
Public ownership, or joint ownership is the way forward. Water too imho. Polling suggests that there’s a lot of support for it.
Yes agreed. What we need is a public owned energy company investing fully in renewables that can compete on the energy market and apply downwards pressure on prices. We also need proper regulation of the energy sector and a direct tax on excess profits in the sector.
We really should have been going along these lines since the 80s or before. Instead of selling off our oil and gas wealth to fund current expenditure we should have taken what was clearly going to be a one off bonus from a natural resource and invested 30% in renewable and 20% in a sovereign wealth fund.
Comments
Would we not have a healthier London if we banned alcohol, smoking and sugar?
This isn't the last ULEZ thread we were commenting on but on that one, I told you that ULEZ was the trojan house that Khan was using to introduce road pricing in London. A few people needless to say LOL but I knew for a fact a huge amount of work was going on in TFL on road pricing and the ULEZ cameras were the first step in the process.
There was a big article in the Telegraph recently confirming this work. Its called project Detroit as you say above.
Road pricing is probably the way road taxation will go as the amount of Fuel Duty collected by the government falls off a cliff over coming years. But most experts in the field argue that road pricing charges should be instead of the existing taxes.
But Khan can only make this pricing additional to existing taxation as he doesn't control national taxation.
So it's simple. If Khan is reelected, you will pay for every mile you drive in London if he has his way. And this will be additional to the existing VED and Fuel Duty you are already paying.
You have been warned!
Road pricing comes in alongside an increase in air pollution?
Surely if you drive a car in London you don't just drive around the outskirts of London, especially if you do it for work? Now a cynic may say it's due to Tory fear mongering. If pay for a mile is coming, why would the Tories not be for it? Afterall this was their idea in the first place?
The other thread is into page 45! 😃
'Don't do anything that affects my life choices. It's everyone else mate. Make them change, not me'.
Classic nimbyism and totally wrong. We all have a part to play. The Mayor of London (the clue is in the job title) as some power to make changes for the better within his city. The only power he has in China or elsewhere is the soft power to demonstrate that we are a city that takes environmental issues seriously and are doing what we can to minimise emissions. It is useless shouting at people overseas to make changes if we don't make them ourselves. We will never stop the global pollution crisis if we turn it into a them against us battle where everyone blames everyone else. We will only be successful if every city makes whatever changes they can and uses their experience to positively influence others.
There was always going to be a green led economic boom for the economies that invested in the technology and got there first. There is still massive scope for development (see solid state batteries) but it seems the west has sat with its head in the sand rather than seize the opportunity presented and so have allowed China a massive head start.
Pay per mile could always be focused based on banding. It could make sense that the cleanest cars pay more per mile than combusion engines who are paying tax through tax on the fuel. This does depend on how extreme they wanted to be towards the most polluting vehicles and how many are actually still on the road when pay per mile tax come in, which is quite a way off yet, certainly not within the next term of whoever is London Mayor.
The environment is in crisis, me being a veggie to help the planet is as nothing compared to a coal fired power station anywhere, but it is not actually nothing. It is a tiny step well worth doing…even if I am doing it badly.
So what if others elsewhere are selfish greedy people? We all have a chance to do something however little.
On the basis of that reasoning ULEZ is well worth it.
We have one planet and it needs everyone to do their part, to make sure that the quality of life for future generations is as good as it can be.
Others have said that you live in Canada, which last year suffered very badly from the effects of Climate Change and the pollution caused by wildfires, it will only get worse and your quality of life will deteriorate as a result.
Because of the seriousness of this issue, the UK has agreed to legally- binding international targets. The responsibility for meeting those targets for London has been devolved to the Mayor.
Since then, the UK Government’s Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants has advised that whilst it is appropriate to focus on reducing air pollution to the WHO’s target level, that even pollution at this level can be harmful to public health. They state that it would benefit public health to reduce concentrations below the World Health Organisation targets.
A 2021 study by Imperial College has found that:
So yes, it is a hell of a deal.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c3b9debe5274a70c19d905c/clean-air-strategy-2019.pdf
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/623075a3d3bf7f5a89aecec3/COMEAP_WHO_AQG_-_Defra_PM2.5_targets_advice__2_.pdf
http://erg.ic.ac.uk/research/home/resources/ERG_ImperialCollegeLondon_HIA_AQ_LDN_11012021.pdf
Jesus wept.
I have acknowledged that it is a tiny contribution to the problem (I do other things too) but as I have already said, something is better than nothing.
Is there a reason for quoting my post and making a disparaging comment, as in the ‘Jesus wept’ bit?
It's not just the small impacts we can have by making sustainable swaps in our lives but also the signalling effects this has. It tells companies and political parties that this is an important issue and it leads them to pushing this up their thinking and so prioritising it further. Which leads to more positive change.
We really should have been going along these lines since the 80s or before. Instead of selling off our oil and gas wealth to fund current expenditure we should have taken what was clearly going to be a one off bonus from a natural resource and invested 30% in renewable and 20% in a sovereign wealth fund.