Naples, Milan, Rome and many other Italian cities have closed their doors to cars and other vehicles, for a few days during the winter holiday break, in order to curb pollution.
The measure was the result of an observed increase in the levels of particle pollution, a mixture of tiny pieces of solids or liquids that are in the air and are considered harmful to health. Overwhelming evidence shows that particle pollution can kill. An increased risk of heart disease, lung cancer and asthma attacks are only some of the possible consequences of these tiny little particles infiltrating the lungs.
In the last few days many Italian citizens have demonstrated against this silent killer, particle pollution, which takes so many lives every year. With the hashtag #FlashSmog, the Italian Greens have asked the government to take serious action to tackle the problem by, for example, promoting the use of public transport and by making it greener.
Promoting a green transport system passes through precise political choices and determination, which also include deciding on what infrastructures to build. Infrastructure for transport on rails, for example, should be boosted and preferred to infrastructure for road traffic, which could only lead to an increase of emissions. If the authorities do not decide to discourage private transport from circulating by offering adequate and green alternatives, the problem is clearly destined to re-manifest itself every time that the lack of rain won't help to wash the air up . The "sharing mobility" culture also offers interesting perspectives, while there is no doubt that electric vehicles and renewable energies are the future. The Greens deem necessary a policy plan which, from infrastructure to energy efficiency, tackle the problem in the long-term. Preventing cars from circulating or similar measures are only short-term stopgaps!
With regard to EU legislation, the reference is the Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe which includes, among its elements, determined air quality objectives for PM particles, limit value and exposure related objectives – exposure concentration obligations and exposure reduction targets. For example PM2.5 particles, the most dangerous ones, should be limited to a maximum of 25 µg/m3.
Already in 2012 Italy had been condemned by the Court of Justice for failure to comply with EU air quality standards for the PM10 particles. In July 2015 the infringement procedure was officially re-launched against the Mediterranean country. However many other EU countries, including Poland, the UK, Belgium, France, Romania and others, were urged by the Commission, in recent years, to implement air quality rules and faced, in some occasions, legal action: one of the few cases where a "trouble shared" is not a "trouble halved"!
