18 July 2011 – Keith Taylor, the Green MEP for Oxfordshire and the South East, will bring his new air pollution campaign to Oxford on Monday 18 July. He will meet with local people who are affected by air pollution and want to see Oxford clean up its dirty air. Council air pollution figures show that Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in the city are regularly exceeding the government target, which is set to protect our health.
Keith will be meeting with a local GP, members of cycling campaign Cyclox and the Oxford Pedestrians Association and the Chair of the Oxford branch of Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). He will be distributing a public information leaflet, ‘Air Pollution: The Invisible Killer’, which he has produced to raise awareness of air pollution and its damaging health impacts. ‘Air Pollution: The Invisible Killer’ explains how air pollution is created, how widespread the problem is, how it affects our health and how pollution can be reduced.
The centre of Oxford is covered by an ‘Air Quality Management Area’ because the government approved level for the harmful pollutant, Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), is being exceeded. Oxford City Council declared an ‘Air Quality Management Area’ in 2001. The area it covers is growing and further sites where pollution breaches safe levels have been identified.
Keith will be calling on local people to write to cllr Keith Mitchell, the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, to ask him to do more to tackle the causes of this invisible public health crisis. Earlier in the day Keith will be meeting with Roger Pitman, Environmental Development Officer at Oxford City Council to raise his concerns.
Keith said: “The right to breathe clean air is fundamental. Yet thousands of lives in Oxford and across the South East are being shortened because air is heavily polluted in many places, mostly by traffic. Government data shows that air pollution contributes to over 200,000 premature deaths every year in the UK. This is an invisible public health crisis which urgently needs to be tackled. ”
“I’m pleased to be joining campaigners in Oxford today to highlight the health impacts of air pollution. In my meeting with the city council I will be calling on them to invest more in public transport and to encourage people to walk and cycle more. Only by making it easier for people to be less dependent on their cars will we start to improve the air around us and make our cities more healthy and pleasant places to live and work.”
Andy Chivers, a GP in Oxford said: “As a GP working in Oxford I see a lot of patients with asthma concerned that the air quality in the city centre is affecting their disease. We know that even moderate levels of air pollution from motor traffic worsens asthma symptoms in some people.”
Jake Brumby, a Cowley Road resident who is concerned about air pollution said: “I am deeply concerned for the health of my family and all other St Clements residents by the dangerous level of air pollution from vehicle emissions. You can visibly see the pollution – I clean our windowsills and within 1 week they are covered with a layer of dirt. I call on all local parties to agree on a strategy for a life-changing reduction in air pollution through low and no emission vehicles, electric buses, car-sharing and congestion charging.”
Keith is taking his campaign to Southampton, Winchester, Hampshire’s ‘Little Green Gathering’, Oxford, Reading, Maidstone, Canterbury, Redhill and Hove.
ENDS
