The air we breathe now is the cleanest it has been since the turn of the century. The catalytic converter, closing coal-fired power stations, stricter fuel regulations, and improvements to machinery have all contributed to our improved air quality.
However, air pollution is still the leading environmental threat to human health, causing serious health conditions in all ages, ruining the quality of life of those living in the worst pollution hotspots, and contributing to 43,000 deaths per year. And while the thick smogs submerging our towns and cities have gone, we are still exposed to a high quantity of tiny particulates, well above the recommended legal limits.
CEN recently hosted a councillor webinar to discuss how conservatives can tackle air pollution in a pragmatic, sensible way. While the panel brought a range of opinions and expertise to the discussion, I took away four key lessons:
Firstly, there is a clear demand for cleaner air. This isn’t just what the polling tells us, but parents and teachers are also huge advocates for clean air programmes like the creation of school streets, which have been shown to improve learning outcomes and childhood development. Additionally, over one million drivers have switched to electric vehicles in part because they are better for air quality. And homes on less polluted streets have higher property values. Schools, cars, and properties that are less polluting or polluted are in demand.
Secondly, while people want cleaner air, they also want to be able to get on with their busy lives. Concerns raised around charging schemes for drivers are overwhelmingly questions of fairness, rather than opposition to action for clean air. Most of us know that walking or cycling is better for our health and air quality, but we find ourselves driving as it is the fuss-free way to get about. Policies like the £2 bus fare cap, re-opening local railway lines, and encouraging competition between operators to keep train fares low and standards up are popular because they make alternatives to driving cheaper and more convenient.
Poor air quality and a lack of greenery are intertwined with the sense of decline many of our high streets have experienced. With more of us shopping and working online, the high street is no longer the practical destination it once was. If we no longer use the high street out of necessity and we find it unpleasant, we avoid it. To end the spiral of decline, we must relax our stringent planning laws that prohibit planting street trees, allowing cafes and restaurants to introduce al-fresco dining, and creating new pedestrianising streets – all of which improve air quality. Combined with gently densifying our communities for housing, reforming business rates, and tackling anti-social behaviour, the high street could again become a nicer place that people want to visit.
Finally, we need to get on with it. We need to integrate e-scooters and e-bikes into our towns and cities. If we are to reach our fast-approaching 2030 air quality targets, e-mobility will need to be part of a package of alternatives to the car for shorter journeys. E-mobility offers residents a quick and affordable alternative to driving short distances, but we need to offer providers more certainty about their future and find a constructive long-term solution to the parking problem.
Similarly, the government must also decide on the future of road tax and fuel duty, and soon. With over one million EVs on the road and growing, the £28 billion raised from fuel duty will need to be replaced if we are to continue to fund other public transport projects, road restoration or other public service priorities. While encouraging more drivers to make the switch, we must be upfront about the future of driving taxes.
We can’t just ignore air pollution: the consequences are too great. But we need to get on and deliver, or risk missing our legally binding commitments or needing to introduce more drastic solutions to get us back within legal air quality limits. The conservative approach will be popular, ambitious, and pragmatic - we just need to lay it out.
If you would like to watch the webinar, click here.
If you are a CEN supporter, councillor, or parliamentarian and would like to write for the CEN blog, please email your idea to info@cen.uk.com
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