Not breathing easily

By Olly Murs

導(dǎo)讀:空氣污染嚴(yán)重影響著人們的生活。

ASupreme Court ruling forces the government to deal with dirty air.

British air is much clearer than it once was:in 1952 one “pea souper” smog in London caused the deaths of around 4,000 people in a week.But it is not as clean as it could be.On April 29th the Supreme Court ordered the next government to come up with a plan by the end of the year to reduce the amount of nitrogen dioxide (NO2),a noxious gas produced by diesel engines,in the atmosphere.The judgment could have big implications for several large infrastructure projects.It also suggests how,after years of campaigning by green ertypes,dirty air is finally becoming a political issue.

Britain has long been exceeding limits set by the European Union on air pollution.In 2014 the Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs reported that,in the previous year,annual mean limits for NO2had been breached in 38 out of 43 sites.Certain roads in London,such as Oxford Street,a busy shopping thoroughfare,have seen some of the highest recorded measures of NO2in Europe.

The health effects of NO2have not yet been calculated for Britain,but are thought to be as potentially damaging as fine man-made particulate matter,says Gary Fuller of King’s College London.A report from a government advisory group in 2010 estimated that,if all fine particulate matter(which is mostly caused by car fumes and the wear and tear of tyres on the road)were removed from the atmosphere,it would increase the average life expectancy of those born in 2008 by six months—and for those born in London by nine months.

Despite the mounting evidence of the harmful effects of dirty air,there has been little political desire to get it sorted.Responsibility for cleaning up air pollution falls over several different government departments,and may require unpopular decisions to be made about raising taxes or increasing environmental burdens on car companies.And around a third of the dirty airin Britain is swept across from Europe.Politicians could often skirt the issue by pointing out that it was a Europe-wide problem.But the ruling by the Supreme Court“takes political will out of the equation,”says Alan Andrews of ClientEarth,the group of environmental lawyers who brought the case to the Supreme Court.The government will have to clear up the air within the next decade or so,regardless of costs.

However,in the next few months Sir Howard Davies,the leader of an independent Airports Commission,is expected to issue a recommendation on where to expand airport capacity inthe south-east.The court ruling adds a“potential black mark”to the case for expanding either Heathrow or Gatwick,Sir Howard’s two potential options,says Matthew Farrow,the executive director of the Environmental Industries Commission,an industry group.Levels of NO2are already above recommended levels around Heathrow,which is next to a busy motorway,and are expected to rise at Gatwick even without another runway.It could also delay plans for a new bridge in East London.

This means the next government will have to make some swift decisions about clearing up Britain’s dirty air,by introducing several “l(fā)ow-emission zones” to reduce the number of diesel cars and the like.Measures to cut air pollution have been taken before.In 1956,after the smog in London,the government pushed through a Clean Air Act,banning coal fires in people’s homes.That decision was prompted by a crisis.The reasons for pushing through this reform may appear to be less dramatic,but they are no less important.

英國最高法院的裁決迫使政府出策解決空氣污染問題。

回想1952年，倫敦全城彌漫著黃色濃霧，一周內(nèi)導(dǎo)致約4,000人失去生命。如今，英國的空氣質(zhì)量變好了許多，但仍有“盡善盡美”的空間。4月29日，英國最高法院責(zé)令下屆政府年底前制定旨在減少大氣中二氧化氮（柴油機(jī)制造的一種有毒氣體）含量的方案。這一裁決可能對幾項大型基建工程產(chǎn)生巨大影響。同時，它也展現(xiàn)了環(huán)境污染由多屆競選者打出環(huán)保招牌，最終上升為政治問題的過程。

按照歐盟設(shè)定的空氣污染標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，英國已是長期超標(biāo)。英國環(huán)境、食品和農(nóng)村事務(wù)部于2014年發(fā)布的一項報告稱，2013年年間，43個城市中有38個城市的二氧化氮年平均含量超標(biāo)。在倫敦，像牛津街之類的繁忙購物大街，其二氧化氮含量已多次超過歐洲的最高紀(jì)錄值。

據(jù)倫敦國王學(xué)院的加里·富勒稱，英國目前尚未統(tǒng)計二氧化氮對國人身體健康的影響，但據(jù)估計，其損害威力堪比人工合成的微細(xì)顆粒物。政府某家顧問團(tuán)在2010年發(fā)布的一項報告估計稱，如果將大氣中的微細(xì)顆粒物（主要來源為汽車尾氣以及汽車行駛過程中輪胎的磨損爆裂）全部清除，那么2008年出生者的平均壽命會延長6個月，倫敦出生者延長9個月。

空氣混濁產(chǎn)生的危害日益顯著，但政治方面很少顯露出治理的意向。因此，凈化空氣之責(zé)便落在了幾個不同政府部門的肩上。增加稅收，抑或是增加汽車公司環(huán)保負(fù)擔(dān)的政策皆不得民心，但這些部門可能仍需如此。英國約有三分之一的污濁空氣在歐洲擴(kuò)散凈化。政治家們聲稱空氣污染問題需要集整個歐洲之力加以解決，往往借此逃脫問責(zé)。最高法院審理的這一案件，原告為環(huán)保律師集體建立的組織ClientEarth，其成員艾倫·安德魯斯律師認(rèn)為，最高法院的裁決是為了明確政治方面的意向，迫使其在此后十年左右的時間里為凈化空氣而全力以赴。

然而，某家機(jī)場委員會（非政府機(jī)構(gòu)）會長霍華德·戴維斯爵士在未來幾個月有望提出解決倫敦東南部機(jī)場擴(kuò)建地址的方案。環(huán)境產(chǎn)業(yè)委員會（產(chǎn)業(yè)組織）常務(wù)董事馬修·法羅稱：法院在裁決中還表示，擴(kuò)建希思羅和蓋特威克機(jī)場（霍華德爵士的兩大備選對象）的話，很可能損害委員會在法律上的名譽。希思羅機(jī)場與一條繁忙的高速公路相鄰，其周圍的二氧化氮含量已經(jīng)超標(biāo)；而在蓋特威克機(jī)場，即使減少一條飛機(jī)跑道，其二氧化氮的含量依然會增加。法院的裁決亦會導(dǎo)致東倫敦一座大橋的建造計劃延誤。

這說明下屆政府需要迅速出臺相關(guān)政策，推行幾個“低排放區(qū)”計劃，削減使用柴油機(jī)汽車等高污染汽車的數(shù)量，以此凈化國內(nèi)空氣。其實，降低空氣污染的措施早在1956年就已實行過。當(dāng)時，政府在倫敦霧霾消散后力促通過了《清潔空氣法》，禁止室內(nèi)燃燒黑煤，這一政策在危機(jī)爆發(fā)后的貫徹效果顯著。竭力推行空氣治理政策的個中緣由也許少了些離奇色彩，但也需要我們同等視之。