Does Boris really expect Londoner to believe he cares for the environment? You might recall Siân Berry and the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s asked the Mayor what he’d do for greener transport in London. He effectively gave them their answer today by cancelling an order for 60 hydrogen vehicles.
These vehicles were to lead the way in greening public transport in London. Their fuel emissions would have been cleaner; exhaust pipes spewing water instead of noxious gas. The research involved could have helped clean London’s air, and reduce strain on fossil fuels. He claims the reduced order of 10 buses and a refuelling station shows the same commitment to cleaner fuel – but, as Green AM Darren Johnson points out, we’ve moved from the largest such project in the UK to something much smaller.
On the same day, Boris has scrapped plans to pedestrianise Parliament Square. He did this on the grounds it’d ruin a, “green glade of heroes.” But anyone who walks through the Square will know it’s neither green nor a glade; it’s a small patch of grass surrounded by a very busy road. A curious omission from someone who apparently worked there as an MP for 7 years.
So there’s your answer, Siân – Boris won’t do much for greener transport in London.
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Ack, sorry for this – the one risk of groupblogging is that two people write on the same thing at once. That’s happened here – this post got caught up in the publication queue, and in the meantime Tom wrote far more detailed and better informed posts on both issues. Anyone interested should consult those rather than this…