Smog!

As the polution appears to be at its worst in inner cities. The answer is straightforward. . Only allow vehicles which are powered by Electricity to enter the inner city limits......  Vehicles which burn Diesel or Petrol are fine outside inner city limits. 

Cheers..........K

Agree with TF views on the latest reports. Time for a proper review with calmer reporting and not periodic outbursts from the media

This is a subject that puzzles me too. OH remembers London smogs, I grew up in the country and can vividly recall the smell of the sugarbeet factory a few miles away as the crow flies, long since gone, on foggy days. Its misty here this morning no smells even when foggy, we live in the town. Not so long ago (10 years ish) the government seemed to be 'promoting' diesel engines as I understood it, cheaper fuel certainly and there was a surge in diesel engines especially private cars. So has this got worse because of additional diesel vehicles on the road? Was the research promoting diesel flawed (or financed by industry )? Or is vehicle use much higher than envisaged? Public transport is at best poor in most places so was this situation inevitable?

Agree with TF views on the latest reports. Time for a proper review with calmer reporting and not periodic outbursts from the media

I so agree with this but how to have it without 'interested parties' forming the review? We need their specialism but don't always understand the subject in depth ourselves!!

There does seem to be a degree of oscillation in policy on this matter. Traffic calming = congestion = more pollution. Abysmal and expensive public transport = more private vehicles. Online shopping = more delivery vans. What is required is some joined up thinking leading to a co-ordinated action plan/investment to come up with a solution. Massive population increase doesn't help. Those 335,000 people aren't all travelling round on solar powered bikes and eating free-range yoghourt. Will a solution be socially acceptable/politically expedient? Answers on a postacrd.

Far too complex for me.

Public transport is great in our area, and for some of us its better than cheap including the railway  the main problem with polution from cars is that a large proportion of them would not need to be on the roads if the ocupants had not lost the use of their legs and we were not destroying our high streets by making more diesel delivery vehicles by buying on line

My opinion is that it is a different pollution today, back then it was fossil fuel creating smog but today's pollution is unseen and deadly by minute particles caused by heavy traffic. Both have the same effect, both are injurious to the aged, infirm and those with already breathing problems.

People are lazy, witnessed by the majority that want to park outside the supermarket door, that drive past a 'Park and Ride', that drive kids to school even if adequate pavements are provided. Because its not seen its disbelieved.

I think that this is a great thought provoking post. 

I hope that those who have the responsibility to set the standards for pollution control for our and our children's future do it in a transparent way and not just pay lip service to further their career. 

Living in the London emissions zone forced me to replace a trusty reliable hilux. I accept that it may not have been the latest of clean engines and so replacing its type was right for the environment. But what did grate on me was that car variant ( diesel fueled ) was not banned. Also I was very aware of all the archaic diesel plant and machinery that the government and industry has and runs on a regular basis-including standby generators, that are far "dirtier". 

All that I ask is that any pollution control is in place for all to benefit and not just for the enhancement of someones political career.

I remember when governments brought in 'smokeless fuel' areas