South China Morning Post – 30 Nov 2011 Hong Kong does not include fine particles in its air pollution index, let alone aim to meeting the World Health Organisation’s recommended standard for them. This is a serious public health issue. Studies have shown that exposure to high concentrations of these specks of pollutants from vehicle [...]
Posts from ‘November, 2011’
Clearing the air over credit for source of pollution data
SCMP Laisee – 26 Nov 2011 Good to see Friends of the Earth pointing to the “disappointing and shameful” air quality in Hong Kong. It is also a shame and somewhat disappointing it wasn’t so frank about acknowledging how it came by the data. While the original source of the data was the Environmental Protection [...]
Waste-To-Energy, A Tale of Two Nations
Nov. 25, 2011 http://www.energyboom.com/emerging/waste-energy-tale-two-nations On the face of it, Americans seem to love trash. Canadians, not so much, as the story of Plasco Energy Group highlights. The company is capitalizing on that apparently national desire to put trash in its place; in Canada’s case, diverting its municipal solid waste, or MSW, to waste-to-energy streams. Plasco Energy is a “clean” [...]
Unlucky eight as city chokes on air placing
Hong Kong Standard Alice So Friday, November 25, 2011 Hong Kong is the eighth worst among 566 cities worldwide when it comes to dangerous air pollutants, the Friends of the Earth claimed yesterday. A recent World Health Organization survey of particulates called PM2.5 – very small but dangerous particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 [...]
Greens put HK air ‘shame’ on the map
South China Morning Post- 25 Nov. 2011 CLEAR THE AIR SAYS: Clear the Air constructed this report by locating the WHO document the same day it was released then adding to the report Hong Kong EPD data for the past five years’ levels of PM2.5. The marked up report was passed to the Legco Panel [...]
It’s definitely time for some ‘clear the air’ talks
South China Morning Post Nov 25, 2011 The Environmental Protection Department had a letter published in yesterday’s South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) in which it sought to “clarify” some of the air quality issues that we’ve raised over the past few months. The letter’s initial point is that “improving air quality sits at the heart of [...]
CO2 climate sensitivity ‘overestimated’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15858603 25 November 2011 Last updated at 15:48 GMT By Jennifer Carpenter Science reporter, BBC News The last glaciation saw ice sheets extend to almost 40 degrees north Continue reading the main story Related Stories Climate impact risk ‘on the rise’ Review backs climate panel report At a glance: IPCC report Global temperatures could be [...]
EU Agency: Air Pollution Costs Exceed $134 Billion
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/eu-agency-air-pollution-costs-exceed-134-billion-15022907#.TtjL5vFm5xA Nov. 24, 2011 Air pollution isn’t just harmful — it’s expensive, resulting in health care and environmental costs of more than €100 billion ($130 billion) in 2009, the European Union’s environment agency said Thursday. The energy sector had the highest pollution costs, followed by manufacturing and production processes, according to the report by the [...]
Defending cleaner air measures
The AQMS of the EPD are set at heights far above the noses of the public and wheelchairs and children! They only release Central PM2.5 data – why is that ? SCMP 24 Nov 2011 Defending cleaner air measures Lai See has taken the government to task over air quality, most recently in the piece [...]
Call for more transparency over donations to political parties in Northern Ireland
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15837510 22 November 2011 Last updated at 11:32 GMT By Mark Devenport BBC NI Political Editor Continue reading the main story Related Stories Parties divided over donations Call for end to secret donations A government appointed watchdog has called for more transparency over donations to political parties in Northern Ireland. The report by the Committee [...]