Stop silent killer: Green Party releases video
on London’s air pollution menace
Jenny Jones and experts interviewed in engaging 6-minute production
The Green Party today released a video drawing Londoner’s attention to the
shocking and lethal air pollution problem faced by the capital.
Green Assembly members have been campaigning on the issue since the body’s
creation in 2000.
The current Mayor Johnson has himself admitted that some 4,300 premature deaths
in London in 2008 were attributable to long-term exposure to dangerous airborne
particles.
The
video, entitled ‘Air Pollution: A 21st Century Health Scandal’ includes
interviews with:
– Jenny Jones Green Mayoral candidate
– Simon Birkett, Director of the Campaign for Clean Air in London
– Dr David Green from the Environmental Research Group and Dr Frank Kelly, –
Professor of Environmental Heath at King’s College London
– Ordinary Londoners affected by air pollution.
Green Party Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones said: “Air pollution is now the
second biggest killer in the capital and is rapidly emerging at the number one
public health issue for Londoners.
“We simply cannot go on as we are. It is a scandal that the response of our
current Conservative mayor has been to try and hide the problem rather than
take steps to deal with its causes.
“By electing more Green Assembly Members this year, London can help ensure that
this crucial issue is given the attention it needs by City Hall.”
The Green Party’s 2012 London Elections manifesto includes an 8-point plan to
combat air pollution:
1. We will make sure that air pollution is monitored in the right places,
and publicise bad results widely, particularly to vulnerable people such as
children and the elderly as part of a campaign to improve the public’s
understanding of the problem.
2. We will require all schools, retirement homes and care homes to develop air
quality action plans that lower pollution in their local area and protect
children and residents during bad air episodes.
3. We will tighten up the Low Emission Zone standards and make sure they are
properly enforced through vehicle checks, with a new ban on idling for parked
vehicles. Introduce a Very Low Emission Zone in central London to exclude all
but the cleanest vehicles.
4. We will retrofit all buses immediately if the technology is shown to work,
and make sure that all new buses are low emission hybrid, hydrogen or electric
models within one year of being elected, and that the entire fleet runs on this
technology by 2016.
5. We will introduce a pay-as-you-drive scheme, to encourage people out of
their cars, and provide the necessary investment in London’s public transport
infrastructure.
6. We will buy a fleet of low emission taxis for drivers to rent if they can’t
afford to buy one, and set-up a clean vehicle fund with low cost loans for
small and medium sized businesses to replace dirty vehicles with electric
equivalents, offering them a discount on pay-as- you-go driving charges so it
is cost neutral.
7. We will work with the Government and Network Rail to reduce emissions from
trains and planes. Push for the closure of City Airport, and convert it into
the first Community Enterprise Zone. We will lobby to ban night flights over
London.
8. We will ensure all planning applications are air quality neutral, and
require new developments to reduce air pollution in the most heavily polluted
areas.
The video was produced and directed by Chris Smith, Green Party Assembly
candidate for the City and East Constituency. Chris.smith@greenparty.org.uk
Ends
For more information, contact Joe Williams on 07825511927, @earsopen or joe.williams@greenparty.org.uk.