1 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:05,520 Speaker 1: It's the big take from Bloomberg News and I Heeart Radio. 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,120 Speaker 1: I'm west Consova today. I want to drive your car 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: into this city. Well, get ready to pay. Some big 4 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:22,799 Speaker 1: crowded cities like New York and London have tried to 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: reduce traffic jams and air pollution with congestion fees that 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: make it expensive to bring your car downtown. Now London 7 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: is taking things a step further. Air pollution has fallen there, 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:36,959 Speaker 1: so the city is trying not just to keep down 9 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: the number of cars, but enforcing steep fees on gasoline 10 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:45,160 Speaker 1: and diesel vehicles to encourage people to ditch them for electric. 11 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: We'll hear all about that in a few minutes. First, 12 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: I asked Eric Roston, Bloomberg Sustainability editor, to give us 13 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: an overall air pollution update. Cars and factories, farms. They're 14 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: generally cleaner than they were a few decades ago. So 15 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: are we moving in the right direction or starting to 16 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: slide back? Eric Rostin, thanks for being here, Thanks for 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: having me. Eric. You spent a lot of time thinking 18 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: about air pollution, and it's kind of different now than 19 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: it was a hundred years ago. So let me just 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: ask you the most basic question, what is air pollution? 21 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: It might be easiest to start with the parts of 22 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: air pollution that we're the same hundred years ago, because 23 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: there's not a lot of it. There's desert dust. Dust 24 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: from northwest Africa can actually not only pollute the African consonant, 25 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: but is taken by winds over to North America and 26 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: we get a little bit of that, obviously not as 27 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: bad as the continent itself does. Another thing is wildfires. Wildfires. 28 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: There have always been wildfires. They're getting more damaging and 29 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: more frequent, but they kick up an enormous amount of 30 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: smoke and ash, and those can cause the cardiovascular problems 31 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: that are such a problem with modern air pollution that 32 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: we're talking about strokes and heart disease and lung cancer 33 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: and respiratory infections. What's happened in the last century is 34 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: we built billions of machines that make the air dirty. 35 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: The overwhelming amount of this kind of air pollution is 36 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: are very tiny particles. The scientists call it particulate matter 37 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: two point five or PM two point five, and the 38 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: two point five just means these are little tiny pieces 39 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: of of pollution smaller than two point five micrograms and 40 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: they get caught in our lungs and our noses, and 41 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: a little dose may not be that harmful, but over 42 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: time this is a public health threat that kills about 43 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: four and a half million people prematurely every year. Then 44 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: PM two point five, it would be nice to say, well, 45 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: it's just this substance, but it's a lot of different substances. 46 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,639 Speaker 1: When we burn things, that kicks up all kinds of 47 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: imperfect products of combustion. There's a lot of impurities in 48 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: the stuff we burn in coal, in gasoline, and that 49 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: leads to all kinds of other kinds of air pollution, 50 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: like nitrogen air pollution. There's an oxygen based pollutant called ozone, 51 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: which while it's when it's up in the stratosphere, it 52 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: protects the Earth from the Sun's ultra violet radiation. Closer 53 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: to ground, ozone is a dangerous and un harmful polluting 54 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: When it gets really hot, you'll hear public health agencies 55 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: issue like an ozone day emergency, and that's that's where 56 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: that comes from. Transportation is actually only about twelve percent 57 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: of the mortality that comes from air pollution. It also 58 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: comes from all these other things, mostly power plants and wildfires, 59 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: desert dust, and all sorts of other machines we've brought 60 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: into the world world. So I mean, that's a whole 61 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: lot of stuff. And I guess the question is what 62 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: is the way that policy experts and scientists look at 63 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: like the totality of pollution, because as you say, if 64 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: you just take out one little part of it, you're 65 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: not really making much of a dent. What is the 66 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: way that you try to figure out, all right, how 67 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: do you lower it to the point where that huge 68 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: number of deaths it becomes meaningfully less. The good news 69 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: there is it already has in rich nations that have 70 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: had pollution the longest, so like air pollution levels have 71 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: been falling in rich countries, and like we know how 72 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: to regulate it. Within the last twenty years alone in 73 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: the you know, in the US there has been declines 74 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: in PM two point five level, the associated levels of 75 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: ozone and nitrogen pollution, So we know how to do it. 76 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: And you know, like with PM two point five, the 77 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: scientists say, like, no amount of this stuff is okay, 78 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: and of the world lives in with polluted air. So 79 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: there's a long way to go. But just the tools 80 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:12,039 Speaker 1: of car efficiency of switching power plants from coal to gas, 81 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: or even better than that these days, from any fossil 82 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: fuel to renewable energy. These are all things that just 83 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: save millions and millions of lives. And it's very important 84 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: to emphasize that the communities that are losing lives are 85 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: communities that have generally been underserved by government safety and 86 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: public health protections. So these are poor communities. These are 87 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: in many places communities of color. So attacking air pollution 88 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: today also means helping underserved communities actually come out from 89 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: under holy disproportionate risks that have been suffering under for 90 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 1: for decades. We've been talking about how air pollution obviously 91 00:05:57,880 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: takes the quality of the air and therefore what we're 92 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: breathing in in. But you write about how scientists are 93 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 1: now seeing other problems associated with air pollution having to 94 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 1: do with how it affects the climate conventionally, like going 95 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,720 Speaker 1: back to like you know, the beginning of the whole 96 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: air pollution debate in the middle of the last century. 97 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: It's more a local problem. It's a problem for cities. 98 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: It's a problem for communities. One thing that they've been 99 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 1: sort of slower to pick up on is that the 100 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: air pollution is also not great for the climate, because like, 101 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: particularly in highly polluted northern cities, they get a lot 102 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: of snow, and even beyond that, just like the Arctic 103 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 1: winds from the south will blow soot up to glaciers, 104 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 1: up to Arctic ice and it'll precipitate there. And when 105 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: you have like black chemicals sitting on white snow, the 106 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: darkness of those particulates attracts heat and melts snow and 107 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: ice faster than it otherwise would. And then the other 108 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: thing that has taken signed is a long time to 109 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: really pinpoint, is that a lot of the particular batter 110 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: are sulfur based chemicals that once you put them up 111 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: in the air, they tend to get stuck up there, 112 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: and they actually they reflect sunlight. We've put enough pollution 113 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: into the atmosphere to heat the world already by like 114 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: maybe one point four degrees. The world has only heated 115 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: up one point one degree celsius in the last two 116 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: hundred years. And the reason is that all the sulfur 117 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: pollution that comes out of cars and power plants goes 118 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: up there and hangs out and actually gives us a 119 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: little bit of a I don't hesitate to call it 120 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: a bonus, but part of the pollution from a climate 121 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: perspective is actually, you know, doing us a favor in 122 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: terms of heating. This is, of course, the very same 123 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: chemicals that we spent the eighties and nineties trying to 124 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: get rid of because it causes acid rain. One way 125 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: that a lot of governments are trying to bring down 126 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: air pollution levels is by pushing people to abandon gasoline 127 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: and diesel powered vehicles and move towards electric vehicles. How 128 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: big a deal is that transition when it comes to 129 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: overall air pollution levels. It's one of the most fundamentally 130 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: positive things we can do. As sad as it is. 131 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: The reason we're in this push towards e v s 132 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: and cleaner transportation, actually isn't air pollution. You know, you 133 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: would hope, all things being equal, that we would have 134 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: found out half a century ago that these machines contribute 135 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: to premature death. We would say, oh, well, we don't 136 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: want anybody to die prematurely, so we're gonna swap these 137 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: right out with clean machines. We didn't do that, And 138 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: what we did was let the cars and the power 139 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: plants and the airplanes and the aggric culture all add 140 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: up until we increased the amount of carbon dioxide in 141 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: the atmosphere by more than fifty over what it was 142 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: fifty years ago. That's raising global temperatures in a dangerous way. 143 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: Now we're in a position where it's dangerous if we 144 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: don't stop burning fossil fuels, and that's driving the push 145 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: towards e v s, and as a side benefit, will 146 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: kill fewer people because they'll be less air pollution. The 147 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: critical caveat with electric cars is you're limiting tailpipe pollutions 148 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: from them, So any electric car is going to be 149 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: much more pleasant to stand around if it's idling. But 150 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: at the same time, the energy is coming from the 151 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:55,559 Speaker 1: electrical grid, and so the quality of the actual climate 152 00:09:55,760 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: gains from transportation is wholly dependent on your local power source. 153 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: So if you have an electric car and a local 154 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: power source, like I think, it's still less than having 155 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: a gasoline car in the long run. But the goal 156 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 1: here is to swap out fossil fuels more. With Eric 157 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: Rosston in just a bit when we come back, will 158 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: head to London to hear how bad cities experiment with 159 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:31,079 Speaker 1: high car fees is going now that Eric Rosston has 160 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 1: healthfully given us plenty of reason to worry. Let's talk 161 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: about what can be done. Bloomberg City Lab correspondent fergus 162 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: O Sullivan is here with me now from London. Fergus 163 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 1: O Sullivan, thanks so much for joining me today, my pleasure. 164 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. You've written it's just really fascinating 165 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: story about how London has dramatically reduced its air pollution 166 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: in a really short time. Can you describe what it 167 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: was like and what they did. London is actually the 168 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:03,320 Speaker 1: city where the first person ever to have pollution lists 169 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: as a cause of death lived. So it's a place 170 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: that has suffered from really really terrible nitrogen oxide pollution. 171 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: It can be a pretty unhealthy place to live. So 172 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: to give an example of how bad it is, Oxford Street, 173 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: London's main shopping street. It usually exceeds it's safe pollution 174 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: levels for the year in the first week of January, 175 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: the first week of the year they blow through their 176 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 1: annual limit. Yes, or they have a certain amount of 177 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: peaks that they're allowed and they just go peak to 178 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:40,079 Speaker 1: peak to peak to peak to peak. And so the 179 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,559 Speaker 1: government the City of London decided to take a pretty 180 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: dramatic step to do something about that. What did they do. 181 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: They've had some pretty groundbreaking anti pollution measures here since 182 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 1: way back in two thousand and three, and that's when 183 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: the Central London Congestion Charge was introduced. It's currently fifteen 184 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: pounds a day. That's at eighteen and a half dollars 185 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: roughly that you have to pay if you want to 186 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 1: drive in Central London for every car except for battery 187 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: electric and plug in hybrids. So in the most congested 188 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: part of the city, you want to drive there, you've 189 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: got to pay up. You've gotta pay up, yes, substantially, 190 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: and that's been in a place for nineteen years and 191 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: that was extremely effective. The thing with that is it 192 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: was intended to stop the average Joe really driving into 193 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 1: central London, to stop private drivers, and their numbers have 194 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: completely did drop. But then you had this upswing in 195 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: Uber and Bolt, these private hire cabs and online shopping 196 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 1: spiked delivery van levels, so actually the traffic then rose up, 197 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: so people themselves weren't driving in, but once they got there, 198 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:50,079 Speaker 1: they were still taking taxis and ubers to get around exactly, 199 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: and people concreasingly stopped going to the shops and waiting 200 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: for the shops to come for them via delivery lan 201 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 1: and so ultimately a few years ago it reached the 202 00:12:57,400 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 1: same level, but it took about, you know, ten fifteen 203 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: years to each that level. They introduced something a little 204 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:06,839 Speaker 1: more stringent called the Ultra Low Emission Zone. That's only 205 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: on the most polluting cars, so all cars built before 206 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: two thousand and five that run on gas and all 207 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: diesel vehicles of any type before and for that you 208 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 1: have to pay twelve pounds fifty a day. That's about 209 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 1: fifteen dollars fifty. Is that on top of the congestion 210 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 1: already in place. That's on top of the congestion charge. 211 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: So if you want to drive into that zone now 212 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: you have to pay seven pounds fifty a day. That's 213 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: about thirty four dollars. So it's very very large amount. 214 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: But the actually Ultra Low Emission Zone is currently twice 215 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: the size of the congestion charge shown. So it covers 216 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: all of in in London and in probably August of 217 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,680 Speaker 1: this year it's going to cover the entirety of Greater London. 218 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: So exactly how big is this zone? You said it's larger, 219 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 1: what is it encompassed? If you're in London. How big 220 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: the zone for ultraal low emissions. It covers about three 221 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:09,319 Speaker 1: point eight million Londoners homes, so it's substantial. It's about 222 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: half so if if you think of London as being 223 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 1: within the M twenty five Beltway, it's about half that 224 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: area currently in the of the big road that circles 225 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: Lining exactly. But this summer the zone is going to 226 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: be extended all the way up pretty much out to 227 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: that beltway. It's not exactly the same border, but it's 228 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: very very close. So it sounds like the Ultra Low 229 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: emission zone has a different goal than the first one, 230 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: which was to discourage people from driving. This one seems 231 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: more at trying to get people to buy electric cars 232 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: so that they can't drive in most of London without 233 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: incurring a fee. Yes, this is substantially intended to push 234 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: a model shift, and one of the things that is 235 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: relevant with looking back at the congestion charge. Remember I 236 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: said that it was good at deterring private vehicles, but 237 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: increasingly it's the commercial fleet that it is a big issue. 238 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: So it's also substantially about encouraging large scale haulers and 239 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: people like Uber to switch their vehicles over to to 240 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: something much cleaner, and it seems to be having that effect. 241 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: How has it been working out? The numbers are still small, 242 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: but they are also at the same time quite spectacular. 243 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: So looking at Uber for example, about thirteen percent of 244 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: their journeys in London are by electric vehicle now, but 245 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: that's triple what they were that was in the second 246 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: quarter of two. But that's triple what they were running 247 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: in the first quarter of one. So ready it's gone 248 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: up three times. It's about five times what the average 249 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: is in North American cities. So yes, there has been 250 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: quite a flip, and that seems to be ongoing. And 251 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: what about diesel, because diesel is really dirty as compared 252 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: to just a regular guest line car. In terms of 253 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: the amount of diesel vehicles coming into Inner London, you know, 254 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: it was spectacular. Forty four thousand fewer diesel vehicles every 255 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: day entered the zone after it was introduced compared to 256 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: the week's proceeding, So it's almost like flipping a switch. 257 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: One week later, there's forty four thousand fewer of these 258 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 1: vehicles every day. So the goal here, of course is 259 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: to not just decrease congestion, but to lower pollution. Is 260 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: that working. Yes, it has reduced pollution. They believe that 261 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: in the first six months it reduced proportion of harmful 262 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: pollutants in inner London by and in central London by forty. 263 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: And this is over which period of time, over the 264 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: first six months of the ulas being introduced. So over 265 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: the six months since the Ultra Low Emission Zone, air 266 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: pollution in central London has dropped tw yes and forty 267 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: in the city corps. But it makes sense when you 268 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: think about it, because it's like flicking the switch. One 269 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: day they can drive in the next day it's commercially 270 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,919 Speaker 1: unviable to them. Suddenly the pollution isn't there. So it 271 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: shows that you can really deliver things very quickly. How 272 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,119 Speaker 1: has the public responded to this, it's pretty big stick 273 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: without a whole lot of carrot. Well, yes, it is 274 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: a pretty big stick and not a whole lot of carrot. 275 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 1: But then, not to be too sensationalist about it. Not 276 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: dying of from air pollution is a pretty juicy carrot 277 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: if you ask me. And I think people's understanding of 278 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: the genuine dangers has grown. Also worth bearing in mind 279 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: that before these charges, London was a terrible place to 280 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: drive and a profoundly inconvenient place to drive. And this 281 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: is not a widespread out North American city where you 282 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 1: can just you know, drive through a city like a 283 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: hot knife through butter. I'm in my forties, I don't 284 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,879 Speaker 1: have a license, and I have never had the need to, 285 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: and I've always lived in London and it's just not convenient. 286 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: So I think a lot of people feel that way. 287 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: It's always been a headache. It's just like making it 288 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:14,159 Speaker 1: yet more complicated. You're right that European countries might not 289 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: be quick to embrace London as a medel, but the 290 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 1: US is more likely to adapt a version of London's approach. 291 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 1: Why do you say that, Well, I just think that 292 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: there is there are more overlaps between British and American 293 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: civic cultures, if you like, then there are between America 294 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:38,119 Speaker 1: and continentally European civic cultures. So I think this kind 295 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:43,159 Speaker 1: of more less a fair somewhat market driven approach is 296 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:49,639 Speaker 1: something that would probably face some pushback in America, but 297 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: it's a model that they will people will understand, and 298 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,359 Speaker 1: it kind of fits with the culture, the idea of like, well, 299 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: we don't want you to do this, but if you're 300 00:18:57,560 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: really going to do it, you have to pay because 301 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,680 Speaker 1: you know you are getting something you have to pay 302 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,199 Speaker 1: back in And I think that kind of contract with 303 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 1: the public is something that the American citizens will probably 304 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,919 Speaker 1: find more familiar than they're simply like someone's telling me, 305 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 1: I can't drive my car here after the break our 306 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: electric cars the answer to pollution in big cities Burgas 307 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:31,159 Speaker 1: we've been talking about how London's plan has increased the 308 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: number of electric vehicles down the road, are there other 309 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: incentives more generally to get people that make the switch 310 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: from gasoline cars in terms of reductions in the cost 311 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: of e V so that makes easier people to buy them. 312 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: There are some incentives offered by national government. What that's 313 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: reflected in, however, is actually lower prices at points of sale. 314 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,159 Speaker 1: So those subsidies are given to the manufacturers and it 315 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:02,440 Speaker 1: just means that the prices are kept relatively low. Our 316 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: associate producers and of Sudiki ask drivers in London if 317 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: the ultra low emission fees will make them more likely 318 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,160 Speaker 1: to buy an electric car. Here's what they had to say. 319 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: I guess i'd be competitive get in at week or yes, 320 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: at one point in my life. But yeah, that's not 321 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,120 Speaker 1: an option right now because we're just too expensive. I'm 322 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,199 Speaker 1: starting to think about in the future that possibly I 323 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: could get a like an electrical vehicle might be better. Um, 324 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:30,880 Speaker 1: and I've seen them expand on the streets a lot more. 325 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: I would I would have to judge a lot more 326 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:37,040 Speaker 1: aspects about it, not just the lower mission zones. As 327 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: for the expansion of the zone, I think it is 328 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: a little bit too early to be pursuing that, seen 329 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:44,119 Speaker 1: as if you look on any street in London you 330 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: see very few ultra low admission vehicles at present, and 331 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: I think that the policy of expansion of the zone 332 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: should have been rolled out more slowly. It's something that 333 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: impacts my own considerations when I'm looking at purchasing a 334 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: vehicle within the next few months. One thing I wanted 335 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: to ask you about, though, is when you introduce many 336 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: electric vehicles into a city, you need to have a 337 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: lot of charging stations. How has London downe that? How 338 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: are US city is going to very quickly increase the 339 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: number of charging stations so all these cars can keep 340 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: running well. There has been substanchi investment in charging stations 341 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: and a growing network of them. I would say that 342 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:26,199 Speaker 1: that is arguably a further hurdle that isn't going to 343 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: need to be overcome. Currently it's not just a question 344 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:33,920 Speaker 1: of finding a charging station, but finding a charge provider 345 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,160 Speaker 1: that your vehicle has a filiated to. I believe that 346 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: some changes are in the pipeline so that any charging 347 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: station is used visible by any electric vehicle. But currently, yes, 348 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: it can be inconvenient, So it's getting better, but I 349 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: wouldn't say it's necessarily it's optimum levels yet. Fergus and Sullivan, 350 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:55,399 Speaker 1: thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me. 351 00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: My pleasure. Thank you. Let's bring back Bloomberg Sustained Ability 352 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: Editor Eric Roston. Eric, we've been talking about how if 353 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 1: you want people to buy electric cars, you need a 354 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: lot more places to charge them to make it convenient, 355 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: and that means making more electricity, which itself isn't always 356 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 1: that clean. So let's say you live in an area 357 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: where your power comes from the coal plan. There's not 358 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: as many as there used to be, but they're still around. 359 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: Does buying an e V put you in the plus 360 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: side of the ledger? There? Some of the researchs does 361 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: indicate that even if you buy an EV and you're 362 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: on a coal fired power grid, that the gains overall 363 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,679 Speaker 1: are still net positive from a climate perspective. This is 364 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: a really really messy problem we have. I don't know 365 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: how many hundreds of millions or billions of cars in 366 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:55,119 Speaker 1: the world, how many tens of millions of discrete power 367 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: grids there are. But it's not going to happen overnight. 368 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,880 Speaker 1: So some parts of the system are going to get 369 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 1: ahead of the other parts of the system. And you know, 370 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: if you want an electric car, buy an electric car. 371 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: If you don't want an electric car, don't buy an 372 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: electric car. But the fact is that every five years 373 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: that go by, there's going to be more electric vehicles 374 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: and less fossil fuels, And so the calculation for any individual, 375 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: you know, it is always going to be, well, what's 376 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: the safest, most fun car that I can afford. But 377 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: the fact is is that as evs become cheaper, more 378 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: people will buy them, and as fossil fuels are squeezed 379 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: out of the energy system, less and less of it 380 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:49,920 Speaker 1: will power e vs. So it's a very difficult question 381 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,159 Speaker 1: to answer on a on an individual level, but on 382 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: the system level, things are moving in the right direction. 383 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: Do evs have their own sort of problems with contributing 384 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 1: ti polution, Like if we start seeing a rise in 385 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: e vs where they sort of overtake gasoline powered vehicles, 386 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: what are the downsides of doing that? The downsides are 387 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:18,880 Speaker 1: in the vast amount of precious minerals that you need 388 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: to build electric cars. You need like batteries and other 389 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: components require elements that we don't have a century of 390 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: experience in mining at scale. So mining is just one 391 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,919 Speaker 1: of the most invasive extractive things that people do, and 392 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 1: it's hard. You know, we need a lot more lithium 393 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: than we ever had before. There's scarcity, and that's why 394 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: you've seen prices rise so much. The same with cobalt. 395 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 1: Mining is invasive and it has real environmental impacts. There's 396 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 1: also end of life issues, like we're gonna need to 397 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: mine old old cars. Nobody wants anymore for their lithium 398 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,640 Speaker 1: and cobalt and other things things, and so you see 399 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: it happening, but at a very fast clip. We need 400 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: to gin up industrial systems that can both produce these 401 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 1: minerals without wrecking local communities and local ecosystems in the 402 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: place where the minerals are found, and we also need 403 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: end of life systems for for consumer products that will 404 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: take defunct car batteries and other kinds of batteries and 405 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,439 Speaker 1: get those materials out and get them back into the 406 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 1: supply chain. Eric Roston, thanks so much for talking to 407 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: me today. Thanks for having me. You can read more 408 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: from Eric Roston and fergus O Sullivan on Bloomberg dot com. 409 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: Here's a quick p s A. It's a new year 410 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,199 Speaker 1: and you might be thinking about making some changes in 411 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,199 Speaker 1: your life. Our colleagues at the Bloomberg podcast Zero have 412 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,640 Speaker 1: a special episode all about changing jobs, specifically people who 413 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: quit their jobs to go to work fighting climate change. 414 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 1: You I'll hear the stories of a restaurant critic, geophysicist, 415 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: even an international war crimes attorney. They all left their 416 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: previous careers behind to try to slow the warming of 417 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 1: the world. Check it out. The podcast is called Zero, 418 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: the episode How to Quit your job for the Climate. 419 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to us here at the Big Take 420 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,639 Speaker 1: the Daily podcast from Bloomberg and I Heart Radio. For 421 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: more shows from my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, 422 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Read today's story and 423 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: subscribe to our daily newsletter at bloomberg dot com slash 424 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:36,440 Speaker 1: Big Take, and we'd love to hear from you. Email 425 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: us with questions or comments to Big Take at Bloomberg 426 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,439 Speaker 1: dot net. The supervising producer of The Big Take is 427 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:47,960 Speaker 1: Vicky Bergalina. Our senior producer is Katherine Pink. Our producer 428 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 1: is and associate producer is Rafael lum Si Lee is 429 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: our engineer. Original music by Leo Sidrin. I'm West Kasova. 430 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 1: Have a great weekend. M h um um um um 431 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: m m