CAN’s letter to the editor (SCMP): Various ways to retire old trucks
I refer to the report (“Higher fees eyed to drive polluting trucks off road”, March 11).
The Clean Air Network wholeheartedly agrees with the Environmental Protection Department’s proposal to penalise polluters through increased licence fees, and it is mobilising the public to encourage legislators to support such “sticks”.
However, it is obvious that the amount of augmented licence fees must be enough to induce early replacement.
Thus, it is crucial for licence fees to go up as vehicles get older.
By the same token, financial incentives must diminish as vehicles age.
Otherwise, only the oldest vehicles on the verge of natural retirement will be taken off the road. Obviously, that kind of retirement or replacement is anything but early and accelerated.
The report noted that the 23,000 pre-Euro vehicles still on our streets are 20 times dirtier than Euro IV vehicles. They are actually 34 times more polluting.
Finally, we strongly support compulsory retirement for vehicles more than 20 years old.
A scrapping fee payable by the government to vehicle owners before this mandatory retirement age could very well be an effective inducement to early retirement of older, polluting vehicles.
The department has mentioned to us that it is studying such an idea.
Assuming fair dollar compensation for the unused lifetime of a commercial vehicle, this could also be an effective policy tool to accelerate the replacement or retirement of the oldest, dirtiest roadside polluters.
Joanne Ooi, CEO, Clean Air Network
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