By the way . . .Diesel cars? What about planes and trucks!

HAVE you noticed the smell of aircraft fuel when boarding a plane, or even when driving near an airport? It’s unmistakable — and this is, give or take, the same set of hydrocarbons found in the diesel we burn in the cars we drive.

Yet, everything you read about pollution relates to the vilification of diesel vehicles and, chiefly, to the motorist.

It’s true that the burning of diesel (used in many cars) has exacerbated pulmonary diseases, including asthma and emphysema, heart disease, cancer and possibly dementia. But what about aircraft? And what about trucks, buses and ships?

Certainly alternatives to these are going to be much more difficult to engineer than nudging the public towards hybrid, electric and hydrogen-fuelled cars.

In fact, the death of the traditional car came a step closer last week, with the announcement from Volvo that after next year, all its new cars will be fully electric or hybrid. But in light of all this, why are we still talking about a third runway at Heathrow? Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?

Was any of that science about oxides of nitrogen and particulates (components of pollution thought to be problematic for our health) taken into account in the airport runway deliberations? I doubt it. So give me Boris Island any day, and consider the health of the people of the South East.