Labour's drive towards diesel cars causing 'massive public health problem,' admits shadow Environment Minister

Description

According to Barry Gardiner, shadow Environment Minister, the drive by the previous Labour government to encourage millions of Britons to opt for diesel cars in a bid to save the planet was a 'massive problem for public health'. Last year more than half of all new cars sold were diesel which emit a higher amount of deadly pollutants than cars that run on petrol – including nitrogen dioxide. Professor Frank Kelly, Director, Environmental Research Group, discussed how car drivers are exposed to higher levels of diesel pollutants than cyclists and pedestrians. He said: 'When people are in cars if they’ve got windows closed and the air conditioning on, they probably think that they are actually immune from the emissions from the vehicles in front of them and in reality that’s not the case because the gases penetrate so easily that they will get into the cabin of the vehicle and depending on the ventilation of that cabin they may actually build up to much higher concentrations.'

Period	25 Jan 2015
Held at	The Independent, United Kingdom