Scary data - London Air Pollution.

Look away now if you do not want to be horrified by some scary-looking data on the level of air pollution in London last year.

This link shows a map of London’s air pollution monitoring stations. Each station is represented by a circle - if the circle is green then the air pollution recorded there during 2006 was within acceptable limits – if it is red then the air pollution recorded at that site was unacceptably high during 2006. If you live in London be sure to look up the figures for your nearest monitoring station.

Clearly we have a significant problem with air pollution in London. It is also – without exaggeration - a deadly problem; every day Londoners die due to the polluted air we breathe. I’m proud of the record of elected Green party representatives (particularly on the London Assembly but also in Europe and on local councils) in tackling this problem. The Green party has strongly supported London’s ‘Low Emissions Zone’ and efforts to curb the traffic and congestion which is the source of much of the pollution. We would obviously like to do much more. Locally in Barnet we have been trying to get the Council to adapt our monitoring stations so that when air pollution levels exceed recommended levels the monitoring stations give a visible sign (a flashing red light perhaps) to indicate this. That in itself will not tackle air pollution but it will at least raise awareness amongst local people of the risk and then hopefully help build a consensus to support the policies we need to solve the problem.