Diesel

Wake up and smell the air

Our health is not on anybody’s agenda. Or, we just don’t seem to make the connections between the growing burden of disease and the deteriorating condition of our environment. We don’t really believe the science, which tells us each passing day how toxins affect our bodies, leading to high rates of both morbidity and mortality. It is true that it is difficult to establish cause and effect, but we know more than enough to say that air pollution is today a leading cause of both disease and death in India and other parts of South Asia.

Smog has to be cleared

Losing after winning is the worst feeling possible. This is how I feel looking out of my window at a thick pall of black smog engulfing my city. It was this time of the year, exactly 15 years ago, when Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) began its right-to-clean-air campaign. The air in Delhi was so foul one could hardly breathe. That was a time when air pollution was an unknown curse. Not much was known about its nature and the toxicity of the air contaminants.

WHO says there is a definite link between diesel exhaust and cancer

CSE says India must pay heed to the findings and stop state-sponsored homicide by allowing uncontrolled use of dirty diesel

Pollution: the great leveller

A harried parent called a few weeks ago. She wanted to know if the pollution levels in Delhi were bad and if so how bad. The answer was simple and obvious. But why do you need to know? Her daughter’s prestigious school (which I will leave unnamed) had sent a circular to parents, saying they are planning to shift to air-conditioned buses because they were worried about air pollution. She wanted to know if this was the right decision.

How India is getting gas and coal policy wrong

Two monopolies. One private and the other public; one in gas and one in coal. Both equally disastrous for the environment. I speak here of Reliance Industries Ltd and Coal India Ltd.

Budget 2012 is a mixed bag, says CSE

Supports the tax hike on big cars and SUVs

But says budget is incomplete, as it has failed to take steps to stop misuse of diesel fuel subsidy by cars

Diesel: when bad policy makes for toxic hell

Just consider. Every time petrol prices are raised, oil companies end up losing more money. Simply because the price differential between petrol and diesel increases further, and people gravitate towards diesel vehicles. More the use of diesel, more the oil companies bleed. Worse, we all bleed because diesel vehicles add to toxic pollution in our cities, which, in turn, adds to ill health and treatment costs.

CSE slams petrol price hikes, calls for similar hikes on diesel prices

CSE slams hike in petrol prices. Says it should not be done without narrowing the price gap with diesel. Calls it “mindless”

It is leading to gross misuse of the poor persons’ fuel by rich car owners, massive revenue losses for the government, and serious damage to public health

Government should ban use of diesel in cars, increase price of diesel and tax on diesel cars

Think differently, Mr Finance Minister

As I write this piece, the finance minister has dispatched the Union Budget 2011. The press is busy reflecting the views of business and industry lobbies, as they quibble over duty exemptions, insist on financial stimulus and other incentives, and cry for big-ticket reform—foreign direct investment in retail and insurance. The only other discussion is about the growing fiscal deficit: will the finance minister give in to populism while extending the programmes for the poor? Or will he raise taxes to pay for the growing developmental needs of the country? The finance minister, it would seem, is caught between two battles: of checking the bulge in fiscal irresponsibility and of meeting the need for delivering governance.

Finance Minister, it is time to take a decision to stop misuse of diesel subsidy by the rich diesel car owners. Any further delay will cost hugely to the nation and our health

Keep the taxes on big cars effectively high and not give in to industry pressure. Link up taxes with the actual fuel use of the car to prevent fuel guzzling