Thread by @greenmattwhite

I'm disappointed by this #CleanAirDay thread. Strikes me as a token gesture, esp when many of the tweets are directly copied & pasted from your thread last year (bar a few changes). So it's hard to believe your ❤️'s really in it. As others have noted, the sentence

https://twitter.com/NorwichCC/status/1405432583316463616

"The improvement in air quality during #COVID19 shows that further progress is possible, if balanced alongside the social and economic needs of the city" is toe-curling. This is a false dichotomy. #AirPollution costs the UK economy ~£20bn p.a. cdn.friendsoftheearth.uk/sites/default/…

People used to say the same about #ClimateChange: we can do some stuff, but not if it hurts the economy! Thankfully they don't say that anymore, not really - because it was nonsense. And it is here too.

Besides, the brunt of air pollution falls on disadvantaged groups (the poor, the vulnerable, and BAME communities). These groups generally are least responsible for #AirPollution too. In the wake of the coroner's report on the tragic death of Ella Kissi-Debrah

(the 1st person in the UK to have #AirPollution recorded as cause of death), it seems especially crass to suggest that the economy is more important than #publichealth. And how can tackling air pollution harm the 'social needs' of the city?

In addition, your draft 5 year Air Quality Plan was recently published hours AFTER the deadline for public questions on it, so there was no way for the public to meaningfully engage with it at all. 🤦‍♀️Clearly this is highly undemocratic.

Finally, how about some advice to actually reduce people's #AirPollution impact & exposure? Don't recall NCC ever asking people not to burn wood, or not to idle their engines - why not? People need useful information, not platitudes. #CleanAirDay #woodsmoke #engineidling

@TimSmedley @DrGaryFuller @clean @rosamund_ElsFdn @MumsForLungs @CleanAirLondon @labourlewis

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