UK government wants to ban sale of gas and diesel cars starting in 2040

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All new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned from UK roads from 2040, the government will announce on Wednesday in a revised "controversial bomb" air pollution plan.

The Tory government published a draft air pollution plan in May, but it faced criticism from environment lawyers and clean air campaigners for being too floppy at curbing the nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution that causes thousands of premature deaths in the UK each year. The High Court demanded that a final version of the plan be published by the end of July-and so here we are.

In addition to following in France's footsteps with an internal combustion engine ban by 2040, the plan mostly focuses on empowering local councils to make major changes to their road systems. Reprogramming traffic lights, removing or redesigning speed bumps (!) and roundabouts, and retrofitting buses are all being mooted as possible ways of reducing air pollution.

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