Your excellent article clearly shows the devastating health effects of transport-related airborne pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and carbon particles (Revealed: air pollution kills 3,500 Scots every year, News, September 20).
Friends of the Earth have estimated the cost to the Scottish NHS of air-borne pollution caused by transport in Scotland at £2bn per year resulting in more than 2000 premature deaths per year. The Scottish Government will get from Westminster through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles around £40-50M over the next five years or £8-£10m per annum to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Scotland – truly a “drop in the bucket” at 0.4% of the £2bn cost. This money will be used on plug-in car grants, currently set at £5k per vehicle, to provide the necessary public charging infrastructure (approx £5m committed to-date), and subsidise the purchase of EV taxis, Car Club vehicles and electric buses.
Westminster plan to reduce these incentives in the UK; hopefully the Scottish Government will see the folly of this and fight against it. Westminster’s removal of incentives to the wind industry has caused a dramatic reduction in new applications for technology which provides pollution-free energy to the benefit of all UK residents. Other countries are increasing their support for these environmentally friendly technologies. Society can either invest in eco-friendly transport and low-carbon energy production to reduce the NHS cost, or continue spending vast sums of public money on treating the results of the pollution caused by petrol and diesel vehicles and high-carbon emitting power stations.
Douglas Robertson, Chair
Electric Vehicle Association Scotland
I was perturbed by the headline news that some 3,500 people have died in Scotland due to the high level of CO2 in our cities. As ever, the standard "kill the car" response is touted.
Nobody asks about all the other factors which produce CO2: the effects of solar rays and flares, the many volcanic eruptions, all humans who are living and breathing on the planet, all other animals, domestic and international flight – which has risen dramatically in recent years – and the effects of central heating systems.
After the terror attacks of September 2001, CO2 in the earth's atmosphere was reduced overnight when the world's aircraft were grounded. But as ever, the age-old "let's blame the taxed-to-the-hilt government cash cow" (the car) excuse is hauled out.
Ian Beattie
Aberdeen
I visited Copenhagen in the summer and I was immediately struck by the frequent integrated public transport, the lack of cars on the road, and the large number of cyclists travelling along segregated cycle lanes.
There is clearly a desperate need for the Scottish Government to take more action in following Copenhagen’s lead and creating thousands of much needed green jobs. This could include reopening passenger lines, such as the Edinburgh South Suburban Railway, the construction of segregated cycle lanes, and investing to create a countrywide Electric Highway to accelerate the demand for electric vehicles and the transition to a low carbon economy.
Stephen McMurray
Edinburgh
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