UK Government Faces Court For Failing to Act on Air Pollution
by ClickGreen Staff
Published Mon 28 May 2012
Image: This picture was taken in London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. You can clearly see the thick smoke/smoggy air that surrounds Big Ben. This is exactly why the English government is being charged with not following European air pollution limits.
Summary: The United Kingdom Government will be taken to court for failing to uphold air pollution laws set by European Union pollution limits This was brought to the attention of and environmental law group named ClientEarth, whom the High Court dismissed back in December when they brought up this air pollution problem. James Thornton, ClientEarth CEO, explains some of the situation by stating: “The Government is failing to act to tackle Britain’s air pollution crisis – by its own admission the UK won’t meet legal air quality standards until 2025." The reason ClientEarth has brought this to the court's attention is because one, it is against the law, and two, the amount of air pollution related deaths has increased. Not only does air pollution kill simply from inhaling it, but it also causes road accidents. The excess amount of pollution fills the air, which makes the road ahead of a driver less visible. Over 29,000 people have died in the UK because of air pollution, even more if you count the road accident deaths/injuries. The deadline for air pollution plans in the UK was January of 2010, yet current plans will not be carried out until 2020, and none will be carried out until 2025 in London.
Reflection: Normally when we think of air pollution, we think of the United States and our trouble with air pollution. This obviously is not the case, because air pollution is a global problem, especially in England. I can not believe that the beautiful city of London that I visited last summer has such dirty air. It especially upsets me that the English government has gone as far as simply not worrying about the amount of pollution local factories and business release into the air. Though it's horrible to say, it is a bit comforting to know that we aren't the only country having trouble with air quality and pollution. It is very clear that air pollution was put on the back burner by the court handling this case because they dismissed the case for five months. In our world today, it goes to show that the environment is not our first priority, even though this is the only Earth we'll ever have.
Questions
- How do you think the Court should rule? Either in ClientEarth's favor or the UK's government, and why?
- What should the consequences be for the UK for violating the European Union pollution limit?
- Why do you believe air quality and the overall environment has not been global governments first concern? Do you think it will ever be a first concern?
- Do you believe this decision could possibly affect future our government on future environmental laws about air quality? What do you think we would do to improve our air quality and decrease air pollution?
Article url:
http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/123551-uk-government-faces-court-for-failing-to-act-on-air-pollution.html
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteI kind of expected something like this was happening other places in the world. We certainly can't be the only country concerned about air pollution, and I'm sure the ones that are aren't just limited to the US and UK either. Other big factory-production based countries like China and Russia are probably experiencing similar problems. I think stories like this should be in the news more so that people GLOBALLY can become aware of this problem, not just students in the US.
"How do you think the Court should rule? Either in ClientEarth's favor or the UK's government, and why?"
Obviously I'd like to get more information about the case in order to really form an accurate opinion, but as it stands right now, I think the court should rule with ClientEarth rather than the UK government. The UK blatantly ignored the agreement put forward to help the environment, and that needs to be addressed. However, I don't think anything like a major fine is necessary, just enforcement of the environmental rules from now on.
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteThe picture is crazy, you can barely see anything!! I always personally get scared being in the car when its pouring outside and you can barely see (I freak out sometimes). I can't even imagine being in a car when there's almost like a cloud of pollution and particles in front of you! No duh there is an increase in car accidents with this going on. I think it's really great that soneone is standing up to the government because the fact that they totally ignored what they were continually doing to the air is just plain wrong and even though they are the government they should still need to face the concequences!
3. Why do you believe air quality and the overall environment has not been global governments first concern? Do you think it will ever be a first concern?
I think air quality has not been a first concern because the government has so many things that they need to worry about and air quality has just been pushed down. But, come on government!This air pollution is affecting the entire world and it needs to concern them, along with every citizen. I would obviously want air pollution to be a major concern for the government but I don't think it would be realistic to say air pollution would ever be the governments major concern. I have found that the majority of governments prioritize what they think is most important and the government in the UK obviously does not think air pollution is important and maybe other governments don't either. But, if you look at this picture and the facts/statistics/studies air pollution obviously is important and we need to focus on it!
Opinion/ Reflection:
ReplyDeleteIt’s nice of the UK Government to put this law in place and everything, but if nobody follows a law, then what is the point of having it? And obviously, if there are that many deaths in one place, you would think it would change the way people viewed air pollution, so that they wouldn’t need any law telling them to stop polluting the air- they would just do it. Also, talk about procrastination (but instead of putting a few homework assignments off, it’s putting 10 years of earth-saving goodness off). I thought it was kind of funny when Dianna said that the United Kingdom Government is going to be taken to court. I have never heard of a government being taken to court, and I think it is kind of funny and definitely necessary. I wonder what type of organization ClientEarth is, and I wonder if they are getting lots of publicity for what they are doing! Good for you, ClientEarth, for sticking with your guts even when High Court dismissed you a while ago! This also makes me wonder - and I hope this isn’t a stupid question- but does America even have any laws about air pollution?
How do you think the Court should rule? Either in ClientEarth's favor or the UK's government, and why?
Well, quite frankly, I see no reason why Court would side with the UK’s government. They placed a law (whoopee for them) but then they didn’t carry it out, either on purpose, or just because they are too lazy to SAVE THE EARTH. ClientEarth is bringing up an excellent point that in order to a nation to run smoothly, not only do there need to be laws, but those laws also need to be reinforced consistently and forcefully. If I were in the Court, I would be thinking “Well, I don’t see the death rate by air pollution going down by the government letting harmful incidents go.” I think ClientEarth has this one in the bag.
Reflection:
ReplyDeleteI am happy they finally did something like this, but come on really, it took so long for the government to actually do something about it. London is lucky to have a group like ClientEarth because they are obviously are looking our for London's best interest. These plans should have already been setled because of how many death's occured in the UK. I still do not understand what could be more important than the health of the people living in your country. Without them, there would be no country. I hope once the laws are set in place, people will adjust and follow them. Without people following the rules, there will not be any improvement.
Question 2
I think there should be serious consequences for rule breakers. It is just like murdering a harmless person if you do not follow these rules. Someone in the company needs to be held responsible for breaking the rules and be sent to jail. Also, if companies do not obey the law, they should be charged higher taxes. Maybe after seeing their huge bill for breaking the law, they will follow the rules. If the government enforces the law, I do not think that there would be a huge problem, but if they let companies slide, then the law will never be enforced.