You’ll have heard various climate change fanatics call for lockdowns to be used to reduce carbon emissions – because they worked so well to curb the spread of COVID-19! Well, it’s starting. India’s Supreme Court is calling for a lockdown in New Delhi because of a “health emergency”. But the “emergency” is not due to COVID-19. It’s due to air pollution. NPR has more.
At a hearing Monday, justices ordered authorities to halt all nonessential travel on roads in the national capital region. They also told them to close offices in the area, shifting tens of millions of people to work from home.
It’s unclear if or when such a lockdown would take effect, or how long it might last. Delhi’s air quality appeared to ease slightly Monday. The AQI is now in the low 400s on a 500-point scale. Last week, it was off the charts in some areas.
Delhi’s Chief Minister has indicated his willingness to impose a pollution-related lockdown but has said it would have minimal effect without similar measures from neighbouring states. Officials from the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh plan to hold meetings Tuesday.
New Delhi’s schools are already closed this week because of air pollution that’s been about four times the safe limit. Construction sites are also on pause, which will ultimately slow the economy.
This is all because of toxic smog across much of northern India. It happens every winter as industrial and vehicular emissions mix with smoke from crop-burning after the harvest.
While farmers have often been blamed for exacerbating the pollution problem, government lawyers told the Supreme Court on Monday that crop-burning amounts to only about 10% of emissions. One justice responded by saying it might be even lower.
Some of the schools forced to shut this week had only just reopened for the first time in nearly 20 months, because of COVID-19.
Worth reading in full.
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Hurrah for FSU!
F.U.S.U. perhaps.
Time to start expelling these clowns to send a message.
Difficult to understand why Oxford students, supposedly among the brightest in the country, should want to deprive themselves of the opportunity to hear a wide range of views. However, after listening to a lot of James Lindsay’s podcasts (https://newdiscourses.com/) I’m beginning to understand the problem. Coincidentally, Lindsay appeared before the Oxford Union recently with Toby Young. Lindsay was arguing AGAINST the motion “Woke Culture has gone too far” – very entertaining!
Even Oxford Uni when doing the right thing can’t say the right thing eg:
“… they must be prepared to “encounter and confront difficult views, including ones they find unsettling, extreme or even offensive”.
Why can’t they say:
“… they must be prepared to “encounter different views, including ones they find unsettling, extreme or even offensive”.
Lazy cut and paste writing that’s why but it gives the impression that the views people want to sensor are somehow difficult ie wrong.
“sensor” oh dear should be censor of course!
It is sad how supposedly intelligent people use a toxic culture of bullying and harassment to oppose a toxic culture of bullying and harassment.