John,

Last Thursday, the Clean Air Bill proposed by Green Party Baroness Jenny Jones, came top of the Lords' ballot for private members bills. This means that it stands a good chance of getting through all three stages in the Lords, before moving into the Commons.

The bill aims to protect the public against air pollution; one of the biggest public health hazards of our time and responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths in the UK.

Baroness Jenny Jones said:

“I’ve been working on this issue for over twenty years, but this is my best chance to get the government to take decisive action.”

With her mother Rosamund's permission, I am calling my Clean Air Bill “Ella’s Law” after Ella Kissi-Debrah, the child who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of their death in a historic ruling by the coroner last year. Failure to reduce pollution levels to legal limits possibly contributed to her death, as did the failure to provide her mother with information about the potential for air pollution to exacerbate asthma, the Coroner found."

"My ‘Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill’ would enshrine the right to clean air in UK law across all forms of air pollution: indoor and outdoor; health and the environment; and, for the first time, require joined up thinking on climate change and local air pollution. We really need to start thinking about a zero emission strategy that reduces harm to human health and the harm we are doing to this planet.”  

The Guardian covered this story and you can read more here

We will be bringing you updates on this Bill as it progresses, and will let you know what you can do to support it.

Elsewhere in Parliament, there is direct action taking place, and we need you.

Caroline Lucas has put in the first Early Day Motion (EDM) of the new parliamentary session, calling for the government to rule out licensing any new coal mining in the UK - which would be completely incompatible with the UK's climate commitments. You can see the text of the EDM and the MPs who have signed it here.

The more MPs who sign this, the more pressure the Government will be under. We need you to call on your own MP to sign the Early Day Motion, there's a template letter/email and some social media graphics you can use here.

If you share the graphics on social media, please tag in your MP and use the hashtags #NoNewCoal and #KeepItInTheGround.

Our supporters are key to the success of these campaigns. Only through pressuring the government and spreading the word to family and friends can progress be made.

Thank you for your support,

The Green Party

p.s. Join the Green Party today. We have over 52,000 members and growing by the day. These actions in Parliament by key Greens show just how important it is to have a Green in the room. Become a member and help us to get more Green MPs elected!