Europe is on the verge of bowing to the polluting car industry.
Car giants are lobbying hard for a loophole which lets dirty cars break pollution laws, and increase toxic particulate emissions by 50%. Our air is about to become deadlier so that the bottom lines of the car industry are protected.
Next month, EU countries are set to give the car industry want it so desperately wants. But that gives all of us concerned time to beat the corporate lobbyists.
Environmental groups and politicians are already criticising the deadly pollution loophole, but together we have to cause a bigger stir to get it dropped.
European Commission: don’t give in to the car industry and let it break pollution laws by 50%.
Particulates are the single biggest cause of 600,000 deaths a year from pollution-related heart and lung disease, and children and the elderly are especially vulnerable. A simple £25 filter would make the difference, but car companies don’t want to fork out even that much to protect customers and people.
The UK government is backing this loophole -- just imagine what it will do after Brexit when nothing will stop it dismantling all sorts of environmental protections. Halting this attempt to bypass pollution laws now will make politicians think twice about scrapping legal safeguards in post-Brexit Britain.
The auto industry isn’t even finished lobbying yet. It wants even more concessions, and to be able to flout pollution laws by a huge 300%! It’ll use every leverage it has to warp the political process for its ends. It’s for our collective power to push against that, and make sure ordinary people affected have our say too.
The SumOfUs community has matched corporate power on the world stage like this before. 1.4 million of us worked together against companies battling Europe to overturn the ban on bee-killing pesticides. Now we need to mount a defence of our air, health and environment together.
Sign the petition now to beat the car giants and keep our air clean and safe.
More information
High court rules UK government plans to tackle air pollution are illegal
The Guardian. 2 November 2016.
The Guardian. 2 November 2016.
Petrol cars allowed to exceed pollution limits by 50% under draft EU laws
The Guardian. 24 October 2016.
The Guardian. 24 October 2016.