Dutch gov’t brought to court over poor air quality

Environmental group Milieudefensie, the Dutch Friends of the Earth, is suing the Dutch government over air pollution in the country. The group is demanding that the country complies to European standards within six months, NU.nl reports. At this stage the EU standards on air quality are still exceeded in dozens of places due to high concentrations of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, many from traffic and agriculture. According to Milieudefensie, this poor air quality leads to thousands of people a year dying earlier than necessary. This has to stop, the organization demands. The group feels that the annual decrease in air pollution in the country is no reason for patience. This lawsuit follows the success action group Urgenda had with a similar lawsuit last year. The court in The Hague ruled that the Netherlands has to reduce greenhouse gasses by 25 percent by 2020.