Almost everyone in Europe is breathing toxic air (opens in new tab)

(theguardian.com)

12 pointsneverminder2y ago6 comments

6 comments

4 comments · 2 top-level

amadeuspagel2y ago· 2 in thread

Two recent policy choices we made in germany to keep things this way:

1. Preventing the EU ban on combustion engines. Britain now wants to delay this ban from 2030 to 2035, US manufacturers protest against the delay. Germany prevented an EU level ban in 2035.

2. Quitting nuclear and firing up coal plants again. Note how good France looks compared to Germany.

ZeroGravitas2y ago

Quitting nuclear wasn't a recent policy choice for Germany.

You can also see the poster child for "nuclear will clean up our grid in a decade, maybe" in Poland.

amadeuspagel2y ago

The recent choice was to fire up coal plants again, rather then keeping going with nuclear. And unlike Poland, Germany already had nuclear.

2 more replies

xctr942y ago

As a resident of Belgium, bad air quality isn’t anything new. Government subsidies for company cars, pass-through highways, unreliable train system, etc.; these things add up.

We knew the situation was bad, but supposedly getting better [1]. The ‘official’ numbers are quite far from the ones The Guardian is publishing. The situation is getting better… wow.

Paraphrasing a song, yeah, it’s better, compared to bullshit.

[1]: https://www.healthybelgium.be/en/health-status/determinants-...

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