British MPs call to banish petrol, diesel cars sooner than 2040 deadline

LONDON - A call for Britain to end the sale of petrol and diesel engine cars earlier than the current 2040 target was made Thursday by politicians in the House of Commons.

A joint report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Environmental Audit, Health and Social Care, and Transport Committees called air pollution a national health emergency resulting in an estimated 40,000 early deaths each year, costing $28 billion every year.

An unprecedented joint inquiry was launched by the four committees over concerns about the inadequacy of the government's plan to improve air quality in Britain.

Their report has also called for a new Clean Air Act, a clean air fund financed by the transport industry and a national air quality support program for local councils across the country. It also wants the government to require manufacturers to end the sale of conventional petrol and diesel cars earlier than the current 2040 target.

In their conclusions, the politicians say: "It is unacceptable that successive governments have failed to protect the public from poisonous air."

It adds that despite a series of court cases over tackling pollution, the government has still not produced a plan that adequately addresses the scale of the challenge.

"The government's approach is more concerned with box-ticking and demonstrating compliance than taking bold, affirmative action," the MPs from different political parties said.

They add a new clean air act should improve existing legislation and enshrine the legal right to clean air.

The reports also wants a national health campaign to highlight the dangers of air pollution, including the fact that air quality can be far worse inside a vehicle than on the street

Neil Parish, chair of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee, said: "The government's latest plan does not present an effective response to the scale of the air quality catastrophe in the UK."

Parish called on the government to "develop a properly resourced support scheme available to all councils struggling with air quality, and to require manufacturers of polluting vehicles to pay their fair share by contributing to an industry-financed clean air fund".

Andrew Selous, acting Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, said: "Poor air quality has been classified as the largest environmental risk to the health of the British public. It is even more concerning that children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing health conditions are most at risk."

Lilian Greenwood, chair of the Transport Select Committee, said: "We need policies that will reduce our reliance on cars. This requires more urgency, imagination and innovation than is being demonstrated by the government, local councils or transport service providers."

Mary Creagh, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: "Ministers have failed to address the polluted air in our choking cities."