Oberhausen embarrasses itself with new air pollution control plan against diesel driving bans
The City of Oberhausen has presented a new concept to ensure clean air in the Ruhrpott metropolis. However, the measures range from half-hearted to ridiculous.
A proverb says that insight is the first step to improvement.
For Oberhausen, however, after the "first step", in this explicit case the announcement and early implementation of measures, there seems to be not much left to do. The package is bursting with half-baked ideas for reducing emissions; in the town hall it seems that the seriousness of the situation has still not been fully grasped.
The bottom line is that, objectively speaking, the city in the Ruhr area lacks the courage and realism to take tough action and tackle the situation seriously. What Oberhausen does not seem to lack: the money to implement all these half-hearted actions. After the Organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) filed a complaint, more than 50 measures were agreed upon, most of them outrageous or unrealistically unrealistic.
First example: the city sets up digital boards, which are supposed to appeal to the population's common sense to use public transport, among other things. However, anyone who has experienced Germany in Corona times over the last few weeks knows how much mutual consideration is currently present in German society.
Secondly, the city has commissioned an app for cycling tours in the surrounding area. Until when it will be finished and how expensive it will be, is not known. Google Maps does not seem to exist in the area around the city... so why this cost-intensive app? Ridiculous.
By the way, our absolute highlight in the exquisite list of measures you don't need: a new asphalt mix. On the one hand it should be quieter than the usual asphalts and on the other hand it should help to clean the air by UV-rays. As an average petrol consumer, it is not possible to understand on what scientific basis this is to be achieved. However, the quiet area is also to be equipped with paths and passages that have already been tested in other municipalities. Oberhausen, for example, is planning a proposal to use electrically powered buses from 2022. One "plans"? The government seems to have the proverbial "quiet way" and is starting the campaign at a leisurely pace. Anyone familiar with the DUH can already guess from these few examples mentioned and their lax nature that another lawsuit or a diesel driving ban will come to the Ruhrpott metropolis.
But Oberhausen would then also be to blame - for some things there are no second, third and fourth chances in life and politics.