Clear the Air

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Clear the Air
Type Non-governmental organization
Founded 10 December 1997
Headquarters Hong Kong
Key people Annelise Connell (Chairperson)
Bernard Chow (Deputy Chairperson)
Annie Ho (Secretary)
Phil Smyth (Communications)
Industry Environmentalism
Website cleartheair.org.hk

Clear The Air (Traditional Chinese: 爭氣行動; Simplified Chinese: 争气行动) is a voluntary organisation aiming at reducing air pollution in Hong Kong. It was founded on 10 December 1997 as a Society under the Societies Ordinance (Cap 151). It is self-sustained and is supported by individual membership fees and member donations.

爭氣 means "fighting for air" and "living up to others' expectations". 行動 means "Action". So the Chinese name of Clear The Air means that people must "Act now - fight for better air" and also "Act now to meet others' expectations".

Contents

[edit] Mission

Clear The Air is a voluntary organisation. It hopes to raise the awareness of the Government and the Legislative Council on the worsening air quality in Hong Kong[1]. Its mission is "to introduce and implement measures to significantly reduce air pollution in Hong Kong".[citation needed]

[edit] Objectives

  1. To form an association among members of the public having a common goal in protecting air quality from excessive pollution in Hong Kong;
  2. To take all lawful actions in educating the public on the need to protect air quality and the public health; and
  3. To take all lawful actions in persuading the Government of Hong Kong to take actions to protect air quality.

[edit] History

In June 1997, at a dinner party, Barbara Parr, Ruby Cautherly, Anne Forrest and Janet Golden agreed to set up this organisation. They also agreed that each of them has to find a friend to set up and join this organisation. They have found six people altogether, they are George Cautherly, Christine Loh and Michel Porro, Michael Moszynski, Pip Landers and Lisa Hopkinson. At last, these ten people joined hand to form Clear the Air.

Hong Kong Telecom (acquired by PCCW Limited in 2000) donated HK$ 50,000 as the initial funding to "Clear the Air". Barbara Parr then arranged for pro bono council.Ruby Cautherly's graphic design company designed the corporate logo, pro bono, and donated all graphic materials. Anne Forrest loaned her centrally located Conference Room for the meetings. Michel Porro did all of the photography pro bono and George Cautherly was a part-time administrator.Moreover, Michael Moszynski of M&C Saatchi was one of the earliest members and he did the advertising work on a pro bono basis.

[edit] Areas concerned

Hong Kong's poor air quality is the main topic of conversation in town. Many people want to understand the details so they can assess to matters and take actions, such as deciding whether to stay in or leave Hong Kong.

The five main areas about which the organisation is most concerned are "Pollutants from China", "Vehicles and Vessles", "Traffic and Roads", "Power Plants" and "Tobacco Smoke".

Central District and Victoria Harbour on a polluted morning and a clear morning as shown on the right hand side, taken from a rooftop on Seymour Rd (near Robinson Rd).

On a polluted morning, the buildings across the harbour can hardly be seen (taken on 22/09/05)
Enlarge
On a polluted morning, the buildings across the harbour can hardly be seen (taken on 22/09/05)
On a clear morning, the buildings across the harbour can be seen clearly (taken on 06-11-05)
Enlarge
On a clear morning, the buildings across the harbour can be seen clearly (taken on 06-11-05)

[edit] Pollutants from China

Clear the Air concerns the condition of air quality in the Pearl River Delta as it affects the air quality in Hong Kong. The air pollution from Shenzhen (Traditional Chinese: 深圳) and the province of Guangdong (Traditional Chinese: 廣東) mostly affects Hong Kong in winters.

The organisation has claimed the "Blue Sky" project launched by the Guangdong Government in 2000, which is a project to curb the air pollution problem, as a mystery. In the project 100 cases of industrial pollution were to be dealt with, but the organisation questions that which companies are involved and how many of them are Hong Kong companies.

[edit] Vehicles and vessels

Clear the Air has stated that diesel engines are the main source of pollutants, they support the use of hybrid buses, and urges to turn all public light buses into Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) vehicles. Other areas concerned are smoky vehicles and vessles (e.g.ships, boats and ferries), where reporting of idling engines is also encouraged by the organisation.

The organisation recommends anyone to report any vessel that emits black smoke continuously to the Marine Department(Traditional Chinese: 海事處).

It also recommends citizens to travel by mass transit systems like the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), which save energy and creates much less air pollution.

[edit] Traffic and roads

The organization is in the position against building new roads and they believe that this would not neither reduce the traffic nor the number of cars. They are in favour of imposing a congestion charge. In 2005, when the Transport Department has stated that the traffic congestion on Northern Hong Kong Island should be solved by building a new bypass, Clear the Air maintained that a new bypass would not be the solution, where an Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) is the only solution to the congestion problem.[2]

[edit] Power plants

The organisation concerns about the pollution generated by the two electric companies (Hong Kong Electric Holdings Ltd.and CLP Holdings Ltd.), and claims that a tighter emission level should be applied. As two out of the three power plants in Hong Kong burn coal.

According to the data recorded by The Environmental Protection Department in 2004[3], the three power plants account for the emission of the major pollutants in Hong Kong. The emission and accumulation of respirable suspended particulates are the major pollution threats in Hong Kong. High concentration of pollutants leads to the formation of smog and haze and triggers health hazards, especially respiratory illnesses like asthma.

Their chairman has once described "Hongkong Electric as a heavy polluter" and demanded the company to achieve the 2010 emission reduction targets where otherwise action should be taken against it. [4]

The organization advocates the use of renewable engery which is clean and pollution-free, for example, wind power.

[edit] Tobacco smoke

The organisation is firmly against smoking as tobacco smoke contributes to vast amount of pollutant like nicotine, respirable suspended particles and carbon monoxide. Clear the Air has stated that they will help to check smoking by several means.

  • To help enforce the smoking ban, by giving their members instructions for reporting to the Labour Department about cases where the ban is not enforced.
  • To get more bars and restaurants become smoke free, by objecting Liquor Licences of non smoke-free places, so the licensing process will become slower, and hoping that the places would turn to smoke free in order to avoid waiting for the license.
  • To try stopping smoking advertisements that the organisation believes as hooking people to smoke since young age, by challenging with the Hong Kong Trademark Department on trademarks of tobacco company.
  • To try banning smoking in public places, by using the interpretation of the littering law, which states that the action of "blow" "offensive, noxious or obnoxious matter " or "any substance likely to constitute a nuisance" is not allowed.

[edit] Actions and activities

The organisation acts actively to raise the awareness of curbing air pollution in Hong Kong, this includes giving demonstrations and press releases and having interaction with the public directly.

[edit] Engine Street Patrol

On a regular schedule, members of the organisation patrol the street and ask the drivers to switch off their engines for one hour per month. They provides with training to the volunteer and will post the photos of those who refuse to co-operate on their web page.

[edit] Presentations

The organisation expresses their view in issues concerning air quality by presenting them to the Government. Clear the Air also reports to international organisations about the condition of air pollution in Hong Kong.

List of presentations by Clear the Air:

  • Mar, 2005 International Business Committee meeting with Government
  • Aug, 2005 Town Planning Board (about Electronic Road Pricing)
  • Sep, 2005 Harbourfront Enhancement Committee Expert Forum (about Electronic Road Pricing)
  • Sep, 2005 European Chambers of Commerce (about Pollution in the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong)

[edit] Publicity events

Clear the Air has organised many events in publicizing the importance of good air quality.

List of events organised by Clear the Air:

  • Mar, 2000 Set up an Information booth during the spring Extravaganzafair.
  • Jun, 2000 Organised the KCRC/CLEAR THE AIR Clean Transport Poster Contest, aiming at primary and secondary school students.
  • Apr, 2005 Organised the "Earth Day" at Kowloon Park.

[edit] Criticisms

The organisation has been actively seeking attention on the issue of air pollution. However, some of its actions have been criticized.

[edit] Liquor Licencing Board objections

The organisaion finds the advertisement in the newspaper about application for renewal of Liquor license, and send in an objection. They then require the applicant to ban smoking in their restaurants, or otherwise they will be objected to the application. The Liquor Licensing Board refuses to give the reason it does not accept the objection, as they are required to do by law, yet also refuese to state that severe air pollution is not against the public interest, and continue to grant licenses. The LLB refusal to state their reasons creates extra workload and hassles for restaurant operators and the licencing board. This has been attacked by the food & catering industry [5] and attracted attention from the media.[6]

[edit] Measures to curb air pollution by Hong Kong SAR

[edit] External links

[edit] Environmental protection NGOs in Hong Kong

[edit] Environmental protection government organizations in Hong Kong

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Road to Cleaner Air, SCMP, http://www.foe.org.hk/welcome/geten.asp?id_path=1,%207,%2028,%20151,%203154,%203253
  2. ^ Leung, Wendy. The Standard, August 10, 2005.
  3. ^ Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory (1990 - 2004) by Environmental Protection Department, http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/air/data/emission_inve.html
  4. ^ Li, Joseph. China Daily Hong Kong Edition, August 17, 2006.
  5. ^ Page A27, Wen Wei Po, 18 January, 2006.
  6. ^ Book A, Next Magazine, 21 July, 2005.
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