More Roads = More Cars = More Pollution

 

Photo by Adam Witwer

I was going to open this post with the line "It takes a failure of intellect to not realise that an increase in the number of roads leads to an increase in air pollution".

But actually, it's not a failure of intellect. It's just a failure in joined-up thinking and common sense.

The Scottish Government have been lauding their new motorway through the centre of Glasgow, and their plans for a new bypass around Aberdeen and a new road bridge over the Forth. At the same time, air pollution in the form of Nitrogen Oxide has been breaching EU safety limits over 82 miles of Scotland's roads.

So what is the Scottish Government's response to this problem? They've asked for an extra 10 years to reduce the pollution!

This makes me think that actually they have no intention of doing anything proactively to tackle the problem of 600 deaths a year in Central Scotland caused by air pollution. Instead, they're going to sit back and let events overtake them. They're going to rely on the car manufacturers to produce more hybrid and electric cars, before proclaiming victory in their fight against the pollution.

And in the meantime, build more roads.