News from Elsewhere

Matthew Taylor
Thu 11 Mar 2021
Choked Up group demands action from mayoral candidates to tackle traffic pollution

A group of teenagers who live in some of London’s most polluted neighbourhoods are putting “hacked” road signs up across the capital to highlight the disproportionate impact that toxic air has on people of colour.

Choked Up, a group who describe themselves as “black and brown teenagers from south London”, have set up the campaign, which is being backed by more than 100 doctors.

:excerptstartTransport minister cites £2bn fund as evidence of commitment to supporting ‘active travel’ The public’s growing enthusiasm for walking and cycling around UK towns and cities must be supported and encouraged as the country emerges from Covid-19 lockdowns, a minister has said.The transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris said there was huge interest in “active travel” in the UK and

Survey reports 81% of parents and carers supported the measures at their children’s school

:excerptstartLiberty Sheldon17 March, 2021 Spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic, bicycle sales rose 65% in the United States between 2019 and 2020, according to a report in the New York Times. Researchers at the NPD Group, which supplied the findings, also claim that electric bike sales grew by 145% in the same period. :excerpted link to original

Calls for government intervention after Kensington and Chelsea leadership team’s decision

Mark Sutton18 March, 2021

Damian Carrington
Fri 12 Mar 2021
Pollution from roads affects virtually every part of Britain, with 94% of land having some pollution above background levels, according to research.
Roads, which occupy less than 1% of the country, “form vast, pervasive and growing networks, causing negative environmental impacts”, the scientists said.
The most widespread pollutants are tiny particles, mostly from fossil fuel burning, nitrogen dioxide from diesel vehicles, and noise and light. More than 70% of the country is affected by all of these, with the only land to escape road pollution being almost entirely at high altitudes.

Carlton Reid
14/03/21
There are plans for Grey Street to go greener.
Newcastle City Council 
In the 1960s, Newcastle City Council leader T. Dan Smith planned for the city to become the Brasilia of the North, dominated by the automobile. An urban freeway—the Central Motorway—was cut through the beautiful city, with soil from the workings piled up on the green lung of the Town Moor. Citizens were told the spoil would be made into a ski slope. 
But Smith’s promise of a “city free and beautiful” fell short: the ski slope never materialized (it was grassed over), a bunch of adjoining freeways never got built, and he was jailed for conspiracy and corruption. 

The Biden administration is plugging EV adoption to help the U.S. meet its climate goals, but electrification alone won’t do the job: We need to reduce vehicle use, period.

Simon Kuper