Tag Archives: air quality

Hina Bokhari

Hina Bokhari writes…Cargo bikes are an important tool towards cleaner air

By Hina Bokhari | Wed 30th August 2023 - 12:31 pm

Over the last few months, a heated debate has been taking place over the expansion of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) to outer London.

While this debate has continued to rage, we shouldn’t forget there are other ways in which we can reduce air pollution in London and other towns and cities across the UK.

One of the most interesting, but least reported methods for reducing air pollution in our cities is the use of cargo bikes.

Cargo bikes are bicycles that allow you to carry cargo (or heavy loads) easily, with electrically assisted models being able to carry loads of up to 250kg. The goal of their use in London has been to move freight and delivery transport away from polluting road vehicles and towards a more sustainable, clean air friendly and congestion free model – in many ways adapting the model pioneered by food delivery companies like Deliveroo for much larger goods.

This is important because freight vehicles (large goods vehicles and heavy goods vehicles), make up 17% of total miles in London, but have a disproportionate impact on emissions and air quality. This amounts to a quarter of the total carbon emissions from transport, and around a third of the total nitrogen oxides and particulate matter from road transport.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 13 Comments
The Voice

Conference votes for strong action to improve air quality

By The Voice | Sat 12th March 2022 - 10:30 am

At Conference yesterday, Lib Dems blasted the Government for its slowness in taking action on air pollution, the cause of thousands of premature deaths each year in the UK.

We passed a motion submitted by Ealing Lib Dems and moved by Hina Bokhari AM which called for a greater empowering of local authorities and the introduction of stricter, legally-binding national limits for particulate matter and other pollutants.

Our spokesperson for the Climate Emergency, Wera Hobhouse said after the debate:

“Air pollution is a killer. Thousands of people lose their lives each year, with many others suffering from ill health because of it. This is no legacy to leave to our children, who are in particular danger. It is heartbreaking and a damning indictment on the Conservatives, who have looked the other way.

“It is high time we put the power into the hands of local people and those who have directly suffered from the Government’s failure to act more quickly and urgently,

“The Liberal Democrats believe that everyone has the right to clean air. It is incumbent on this Conservative Government to do all they can to uphold that right, by tackling the air pollution crisis head on and cleaning up their act.”

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
Paula Widdowson

Improving York’s air quality and rebuilding a greener and more sustainable city

By Paula Widdowson | Fri 9th October 2020 - 3:45 pm

Embed from Getty Images

At this year’s Air Quality Day York is proudly leading the way nationally by working to implement ambitious plans across the city to improve York’s air quality and move towards becoming carbon zero by 2030.

Earlier in April new research had revealed that York’s air quality had seen significant improvements during lockdown. This follows a positive long-term trend that has seen carbon emissions decrease by 37% over the last 13 years. Whilst similar reductions in air pollution have taken place across the country, here in York we aim to capture, retain and speed up this trend to aid in the administration’s ambitious plan to become zero carbon by 2030.

We have an ambitious electric vehicle programme for the city, and we are now leading the way nationally with the introduction of the largest zero emission Park & Ride fleet in the country. The 21 new vehicles will see us save 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. This work builds on the £1.6 million investment already made to deliver York’s Clean Air Zone, the first voluntary Clean Air Zone in the UK, as well as our ambition to become the first fully electric bus city.

Whilst York will by no means be the only council aiming to enable a green recovery locally, the crisis has focused our minds on setting in place longer term plans, which would ensure that locally we can rebuild a more sustainable and greener city. This has seen our broader city recovery plans commit to investing in the creation of the next generation of green jobs and the development of the necessary skills to fit the future economy. As a city with two excellent research universities and the most skilled population in the North, we are aiming to take full advantage of our capabilities in bioeconomy and low carbon technologies, which put our city in a unique position to deliver the workforce and facilities to truly build back greener and better.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 4 Comments
Mark Valladares

5 February 2019 – today’s press releases (part 1)

By Mark Valladares | Tue 5th February 2019 - 11:28 pm

It’s been a busy day today, so we’ll break today’s releases up into two pieces, starting with…

  • Govt must take action on projected rise of car emissions
  • Cable: Brexit causing the economy to stagnate
  • EU citizens in Holyhead face 224 mile round trip to register for settled status
  • Davey questions Justice Minister on potential Brexit bribes

Govt must take action on projected rise of car emissions

Today a report from Friends of the Earth, and the think-tank Transport for Quality of Life highlights that a rise in emissions from the roads could have a hugely detrimental effect on climate change and public health.

Commenting former Liberal Democrat …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron: Only way to make blue go green is to add yellow

By NewsHound | Sat 24th January 2015 - 10:25 am

Over at PoliticsHome, Tim Farron has been showing up the Tories, who voted in favour of loosening controls on air pollution. Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder opposed the plans:

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink and News | Also tagged , , and | 5 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Roland
    >". If Chloe is referring to VAT on public school education then I disagree. Those who can afford £ 65,000 p.a. in fees at Eton can well afford to pay the V...
  • David Raw
    Poll rating amongst teachers ? But, they happily gobbled up the 10% pay rise Ms Phillipson arranged for them though, Chloe. As to being a nasty piece of work, ...
  • Chloe
    Her poll rating amongst teachers is awful, & to read the teachers blogs about the reforms she put in place is an eye-opener. Above all else, those calling ...
  • Tom Bailey
    In the 1970’s an American man called Walter Carlos was a serious well established musician, professional in the world of electronic music. At some point he w...
  • Chloe
    'The truth is that our freedoms are being subtly eroded in an era where emotion and sentiment are prized above reason and rationality'... KB...