[sustran] Re: Air Pollution - Delhi, Etc.

[eric.britton at ecoplan.org]

Headline was "Traffic Fumes do not Harm London's Health."

That's really terrific. What a thoughtful and competent conclusion on the
part of the media.  Just cause they see London up there as the "best
performer" on the world list of eco-horrors, they feel safe to conclude that
there's no problem.  And so it ever goes.

I detest conspiracy theories (as much as anything else because they put you
in such awful company), but in this case one is justified in wondering
if....

Of course there is a conspiracy.  And of course it is one of banality and
complacency, in good part made possible because the people who should know
better (that's you and me my friends) simply do not seem to know how to grab
and hold the stage.  By being "intellectually responsible", by being
"specialized", by agreeing to do yet more studies (which either implicitly
accept the inertial premises of an environmentally reactionary political
establishment or, if we don't, by not making too much of a fuss about it),
by conferring and incessantly talking to each other all the time about
matters of common professional interest .... Hey, there are only 24 hours in
the day, and if we spend all our time doing this, no wonder that "Traffic
Fumes do not Harm London's Health."

Your servant is of course as guilty as the rest.  One more little white
mouse nibbling harmlessly in his corner of the warm cage.


Here's a piece of more hopeful news.

Peter Wiederkehr of the OECD's EST (Environmentally Sustainable
Transportation) program mentioned to me en passant yesterday that their
global analysis of pollution factors has revealed something quite
surprising.  Namely that it would not take an awful lot of rejiggling of the
transport system, at least within the OECD region, in order to achieve some
MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS in air quality. This is great news if true. As I
understand it, he is not talking about Factor of Ten (or whatever) stuff,
but rather has concluded that if we can only find a way to package the
solution set (which in turn consists of a number of very specific, low cost,
trend-busting "sustainability triggers"), it is something that we should be
able to sell to the politicians (that is those who are not yet in jail or
under investigation) and the public.

I am going to ask him to put some of this in our forum here (for which I am
ever grateful to good Paul) for your information and consideration.  And
hopefully your ideas and feedback, both to Peter and to the rest of us.

Eric Britton