Clean Air Network

Hong Kong Government Issues Warning as Air Pollution Rises

cleanairnetwork — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:45:21 +0000

Bloomberg By Sophie Leung March 11 (Bloomberg) — Hong Kong’s air pollution hit high enough levels today to prompt a government health warning to people with some heart and lung conditions, according to the city’s Environmental Protection Department. Related Posts Hong Kong Air Pollution ‘Very High’ on Light Wind AFP coverage of our consumer campaign against Hong Kong’s air pollution Hong [...]

RTHK Back Chat: CAN’s CEO & Prof. Simon Ng talk about Hong Kong air pollution & the sign-up campaign

Joanne Ooi — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:46:43 +0000

This morning, RTHK asked Joanne Ooi, CAN’s CEO, and Professor Simon Ng, to describe the goals of CAN’s educational and sign-up campaign. Related Posts AFP coverage of our consumer campaign against Hong Kong’s air pollution CSL to conduct unprecedented campaign in support of cleaning up Hong Kong’s air pollution CNNGo Interview with CAN CEO, Joanne Ooi: Why this [...]

Mobile Petition Sign-up, LegCo deputation, Parent Survey & more

cleanairnetwork — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:51:09 +0000

Use your mobile to sign The Petition for Clean Air during March

If you are a CSL subscriber, you can sign The Petition for Clean Air via SMS for free this month. Just reply “YES” to the CAN SMS or SMS “YES” to 5036901. Yes, that number only has 7 digits.

CAN delivered an oral deputation regarding Early Replacement of Commercial Diesel Vehicles in LegCo today

You can access our deputation here. We argued for both bigger carrots AND sticks. And underscored that public health must be the predominating concern. You can read a fuller exposition of our views later this week on our blog.

Please take our Parent Survey about Air Pollution and Child Health

We are presently conducting a parent survey through the offices of several leading pediatricians throughout Hong Kong in order to learn more about child respiratory health and parents’ attitudes towards Hong Kong’s air quality management policy. If you are parent, please take a few minutes to answer the questionnaire online. If you are a pediatrician and would like to get involved, please contact us at info@hongkongcan.org Dr. Alfred Tam, leading pediatrician and Chairman of the Hong Kong Asthma Society, has been instrumental to this initiative and not only vetted the questionnaire, but is presently conducting the survey in his office, as well as conducting petition sign-up on our behalf.

AmCham lunchtime talk by leading expert, Professor Anthony Hedley, HKU

On March 22, Professor Anthony Hedley, Chair of the Department of Community Medicine at Hong Kong University, will give a lunchtime talk at AmCham entitled “How much is air quality really costing us?” The talk is open to non-members. Visit the AmCham website for full details.

Pass it on!

If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with friends so they can benefit from the latest news about Hong Kong air pollution.

LegCo Diary: Early replacement of diesel commercial vehicles

Joanne Ooi — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:07:39 +0000

On Wednesday, 10 March, CAN made a deputation stating its position on the Government’s proposed $540 million subsidy to encourage replacement of Euro II vehicles. Note that this scheme will follow on the heels of a subsidy for Euro I and pre-Euro vehicle owners, still in effect, which will expire on 31 March. The current subsidy, because of its low up-take, has been widely regarded by virtually all stakeholders to be a failure because only 26% of eligible vehicles applied for it.

The primary complaint, echoed again on Wednesday, has been that the amounts of the subsidy, respectively 12% and 18% for Euro I and II, are too small to function as a genuine financial inducement. Unfortunately, the current proposal is equally unenticing and offers an 18% subsidy only. It is rather obvious that, based on present experience, such a scheme’s carrot is simply too skimpy to alter behavior.

Thus, it is CAN’s position that the carrot needs to be fattened up considerably if we are to achieve EARLY replacement of dirty polluting vehicles. To match this rather paltry carrot, the Govt is proposing to increase license renewal fees slightly. Although the EPD was careful not to mention any dollar figure in the LegCo chamber, they had told us previously that any augmentation will be de minimis — something like an additional $500 per year per vehicle. Thus, the lame carrot will matched by an equally lame stick! Can there be any hope for ACCELERATED replacement of the oldest polluting vehicles with such a toothless set of measures?

In this regard, we certainly agree with the the transport industry: larger per vehicle subsidies would be much more effective. As opposed to other environmentalists, we have no issue with increasing payouts to polluters if it means getting their dirty vehicles off of our streets as soon as possible. Moreover, everyone can agree that it is a terrible use of taxpayer money to grant payments to truck owners to replace vehicles that were already going to be replaced because the vehicles had reached the natural end of their lifetime. No one, truck owner or public, could disagree with this characterization of the current subsidy scheme, which is an outrage in terms of its ineffectiveness.

So, at the very least, we hope the Government is not going to rewrite the errors of its present pre-Euro and Euro I scheme into its new Euro II subsidy plan.

If the per-vehicle subsidy was increased from 18% to 25-35%, for example, it would be fair for the Government to impose a tougher stick in the form of increased license fees. This point was aptly made by the transport industry itself during the LegCo session. At least, then, truckowners would be presented with a genuine choice: take advantage of the Government’s (generous) subsidy to buy a new truck or face substantially higher, penalizing licensing fees. In short, the juicier carrot would be accompanied by a stick of commensurate weight, addressing concerns of inequity from the transport industry itself.

During the session, there was also major discussion of a scrapping incentive. After all, argued the truck owners, getting the worst trucks off the streets is an important public health goal. We do agree. However, how do you address the problem of trucks that are about to fall apart anyway? Outside LegCo, the EPD told us that they were considering a compulsory scrapping scheme, which would, at least in theory, prevent cheating the system. Although we weren’t able to get into a detailed discussion with the EPD, presumably, such a scheme would necessitate the scrapping of a vehicle when it reached an age of, say, 20 years, with a cash payment for scrapping available for vehicles less than that age. The scrapping incentive would be biggest for the newest vehicles and dwindle in direct proportion to the age of the vehicle in order to fairly compensate vehicle owners for the unused lifetime of their trucks. THIS certainly seems like a fair scheme but, as usual, the devil is in the details. Obviously, the correct or incorrect calibration of the cash payment amount could significantly skew the scheme towards success or failure. The example of the present subsidy is instructive.

Annelise O’Connell of Mini Spotters may have proposed the best idea of all: mandatory dynamometer testing and elimination of the oldest vehicles. The method for “removal” could be either scrapping and/or subsidy. But the main point was the identification of the dirtiest vehicles to both optimize use of taxpayer money and reduce roadside emissions. Unfortunately, it appears that the EPD considers such a scheme impractical.

Wednesday’s discussion dealt primarily with the proposed Euro II subsidy, which is already fraught with major defects. But let’s not forget that the even thornier, more urgent problem of getting the oldest vehicles (pre-Euro and Euro I) off the road will remain, even if Euro II vehicles are subsidized more effectively than currently proposed.

ATTN: 1O1O/one2free subscribers, sign The Petition for Clean Air via SMS

Joanne Ooi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:15:36 +0000

This month, 1o1o & one2free customers can sign The Petition for Clean Air by SMS for free. Either reply “YES” to the 1O1O / one2free SMS message or send an SMS with “YES” to 5036901 any time in March. Subscribers will receive SMS messages on 10-14 March. Related Posts CAN launches unprecedented consumer petition sign-up campaign CAN launches unprecedented [...]

AFP coverage of our consumer campaign against Hong Kong’s air pollution

Joanne Ooi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:19:06 +0000

Hong Kong eateries and gyms launch clean air campaign,

HONG KONG (AFP) – Hong Kong’s catering and fitness groups have launched an unprecedented petition campaign to fight the city’s worsening air pollution. Starting this month, more than 200 leading restaurants, cafes and gyms in the city will invite their customers to sign “The Petition for Clean Air.”The organisers also ran campaign ads in the International Herald Tribune and several local newspapers this week, reminding readers that Hong Kong’s air pollution “kills three people a day” and its air is “three times dirtier than New York City’s.” Read more… http://ow.ly/1eTHI

CNNGo Interview with CAN CEO, Joanne Ooi: Why this year is so important for cleaning up Hong Kong’s air pollution

Joanne Ooi — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:21:55 +0000

Joanne Ooi speaks about why it’s important to speak out THIS year about Hong Kong air pollution and the reasons why there may be hope after more than 10 years of inaction by the Hong Kong Government. http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/play/clean-air-network-campaign-935731 Related Posts CSL to conduct unprecedented campaign in support of cleaning up Hong Kong’s air pollution AFP coverage of our [...]

CAN launches unprecedented consumer petition sign-up campaign

cleanairnetwork — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:33:39 +0000

Today, CAN launched its unprecedented consumer campaign to fight Hong Kong’s air pollution with the city’s leading restaurants and gyms. During the month of March, over 200 restaurants and gyms will conduct a petition drive on our behalf. At the time of bill presentation (or check-in), customers will be presented with The Petition for Clean Air. Customers can either complete and sign the document on the spot or return the signed form to any participating outlet at their convenience during the month of March. For the full list of participating establishments, click here. Below is an image of the sign-up flyer that customers and members will be receiving. Thank you for support and please tell your friends about this important society-wide initiative and encourage them to SIGN THE PETITION FOR CLEAN AIR.

Outside of the restaurant sector, you will also see our campaign at MTR stations, The Link shopping malls (inside and out), Pacific Place (the tunnel between the MTR and the mall) and on TVB. We’ve also posted the ad on YouTube. The concept for the TV commercial is based on the idea of running out of breath, literally. It’s well worth taking a look.

We will keep you posted this month as more partners join the sign-up initiative and we roll out other initiatives.

Thank you for your support!

Air pollution turned Spring mist “acidic”

cleanairnetwork — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:20:09 +0000

Translated from Ming Pao

Dr. Cheung from HK Sanatorium and Hospital explained air pollution in recent years have turned the Spring mist “acidic” which is irritative and hazardous to eyes. Dr. Cheung also mentioned gaseous pollutants have bad impact on eyes; but the situation that pollutants being aggregated in liquid form (mist) and turned acidic to stimulate eyes is even worse.

Dr. Chan from HKUST tested the mist acidity and found that it was pH 4-5. In reference to the acidity of acid rain which is pH 5.6, the recent mist in HK could be defined as “acid mist”. Dr. Chan further explained that denser mist with high water content could “dilute” the acidity where thinner mist with high level of air pollutants would result in higher acidity.

Air Pollution Slows Down Women Marathoners

cleanairnetwork — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:29:31 +0000

Dirty air could hinder the performance of women in marathons, a new study finds.

Linsey Marr of Virginia Tech evaluated marathon race results, weather data and air pollution concentrations for seven major U.S. marathons in cities such as New York, Boston and Los Angeles, where pollution tends to be highest.