首页
登录
职称英语
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut
游客
2023-11-04
38
管理
问题
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut down under new government plans to save money by cutting regulations.
Ministers want to remove obligations on local authorities to assess air quality in their areas, resulting in less monitoring. But environmental campaigners are accusing them of trying to hide one of the country’s biggest public health problems.
Government advisers have estimated that one type of pollutant—miniscule(微小的)particles from diesel engines, fossil fuel power stations and other sources—is killing 29,000 people a year in the UK, and costing health services about £ 16 billion.
But European air pollution limits meant to protect health are being breached in urban areas across the country, with the highest levels in London. According to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs(Defra), the limits for the toxic exhaust gas, nitrogen dioxide, were exceeded in 40 of the UK’s 43 air quality zones in 2010.
But now Defra has launched a six-week consultation, due to close on 30 August, proposing a radical overhaul of the local air quality management regime that has been in place since 1997. The proposals are aimed at helping meet ministers’ "red tape challenge" to roll back legislation in order to help businesses(choice).
The favoured option is to drop existing requirements for councils to make detailed assessments of air pollution. Defra’s analysis shows that this could lead to the closure of 600 monitoring sites, all of which measure nitrogen dioxide and a quarter of which also test for pollution from tiny particles.
The closures could save councils nearly £ 50m over 10 years, Defra suggests. The proposals only apply to England, and have been rejected by the Scottish government on the grounds that they "would deliver no obvious benefit".
"The UK government wants to hide air pollution and cares nothing for public health," said Simon Birkett, director of the campaign group, Clean Air in London. He points out that the consultation is taking place in the summer holidays and describes the financial saving as illusory.
He added: "Worse, the changes would mean the loss of key protections in the planning system and the very monitors and expertise needed now to improve air quality. "
Prof. Duncan Laxert, the managing director of Air Quality Consultants in Bristol, said that much of our understanding of air pollution has come from local authority monitoring: "It will be a retrograde step if the government’s preferred option is to lose this local knowledge. "
Defra insisted that the aim is to "reinvigorate and refocus" local air quality management. It said that the current regime was " diagnosis driven" and that " the level of local reporting can distract resources from air quality improvement". [br] Simon Birkett’s attitude towards the closure of air pollution monitoring stations can be best described as______.
选项
A、supportive
B、objective
C、critical
D、unclear
答案
C
解析
态度题。由题干中的Simon Birkett’s attitude定位至第八段。该段及第九段详述了SimonBirkett对这一问题的立场,主要持批判的态度,故答案为[C]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3156178.html
相关试题推荐
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Don’tgoacrosstheroadnow,______?A、doyouB、don’tweC、willyouD、shallweC反
EveryFebruary,acrossthecountry,candy,flowers,andgiftsareexchanged
EveryFebruary,acrossthecountry,candy,flowers,andgiftsareexchanged
EveryFebruary,acrossthecountry,candy,flowers,andgiftsareexchanged
Bonfirescancauselocalizedairpollutionandannoyneighbours.Followthe
Bonfirescancauselocalizedairpollutionandannoyneighbours.Followthe
随机试题
Now,wetellaboutthewaystheAmericangovernmentplanstofollowforeignstud
Thelawisgreatmassofrules,showingWhenandhowfaramanis【S1】______t
[originaltext]Itisoftenclaimedthatnuclearenergyissomethingwecanno
It’sTimetoPayAttentiontoSleep,theNewHealthFrontierA)Your
在公关传播模式中,“5w”模式的提出者是A.拉斯韦尔 B.伯尼斯 C.马斯洛
甲房地产开发公司在预售某住宅小区的广告中,宣称其“容积率不高于1.2”“绿地面积
耳蜗的行波理论为A.为声波所致的基底膜振动方式 B.行波所达部位取决于声音
建立近代警察制度较早的国家是( )。A.中国和法国 B.法国和美国 C.
下列关于能源分类表述错误的是( )。A.水能是一次能源,是可再生能源,属于清洁
房颤的心电图表现( )。A.P波消失,代之以小而不规则的f波 B.心房活动呈
最新回复
(
0
)