Believe it or not, the Environmental Protection Department considers the passage of this bill to be contentious even though the overwhelming majority of the public supports it. The Bills Committee for this bill contains 16 Legislative Councillors, an absurdly high number, with 9 Councillors against or desirous of adding exemptions to the Bill. MAKING AN APPEARANCE IN LEGCO, ESPECIALLY ON BEHALF OF AN ASSOCIATION, COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION, CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. You can sign up to make an appearance on or before May 26th (Wednesday). And you can get up to speed on the issues and arguments by visiting our website which contains not only a briefing paper but the full list of Bills Committee members. (The Bills Committee vets each sentence of the ordinance before the bill is voted upon by all Councillors. This vetting process can be very protracted taking several months, especially when a bill is contentious, such as in this case.)
Clean Air Network & Clear the Air ANTI-IDLING CARDS
One of the main reasons to pass the anti-idling bill is to modify attitudes towards idling and make the public, especially drivers, more mindful of the dangers of roadside pollution. To that end, CAN teamed up with CTA to print anti-idling cards. Please contact us at info@hongkongcan.org and we can post you 20 of these Chinese language, business card-sized cards. That way, next time you encounter an idler, you can hand him or her this card which politely explains WHY idling is dangerous to everyone’s health.
