Update: ECO Singapore will be meeting PM Lee at 5pm (Danish Time, i.e. SGT minus 7h) on 18 Dec 2009
Eleina
Eleina is a member of ECO Singapore, hoping to bring forward the gravity of the climate change issue in Copenhagen this December. The group is part of the International Youth Climate Movement (IYCM) at the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) 15th Conference of Parties (COP15).
A Plenary Session at COP15 (Photo Credit: University of Toronto)
Sometime this week, ECO Singapore will be having a short interaction session with Singapore government officials in Copenhagen. Part of the session will include time for us to question them on Singapore government’s environment policies and their goals during COP15.
Do contribute questions you would like to be answered in regards to the above. We will do our best to present these questions during the interaction session. It is time for us to start raising critical issues and asking pertinent questions in regards to our role, as Singapore, within the global climate movement.
We look forward to receiving your questions! Please post your questions on the commentary thread of this article.
This article was originally published at http://unfcccecosingapore.wordpress.com/
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1. Is nuclear energy being considered? If so where is a good location for the plant?
2. Can future HDB flats be partially powered by solar energy?
3. Is it possible to build a dam at the barrage?
4. Will coastal areas like Marine Parade be affected by rising sea levels? If so how bad is it?
5. Can lightning be an energy source?
6. How can the civil service reduce wastage? Are there statistics on say reduction in paper usage, electrical bills etc?
1. Is the government intending to impose carbon tax? If so, will it be a producer or consumer tax?
2. Is the government considering underground power plants so that it possible for power plants to provide district cooling to residential area?
3. Is there any concrete plan to manage and supervise nuclear safety in Southeast Asia?
4. Are there plans to harness waste food from hawker centres, confectionaries, etc for biogas power?
5. Is the government considering to institutionalise the addition of palm oil or ethanol to retail transport fuel sold for land vehicles?
1. Can more be done to reduce household/office waste? Are there plans for sustained public education and provision of infrastructure to facilitate the sorting and recycling of household waste?
2. What is the latest assessment on rising sea levels and its long-term impact on Singapore?
Good questions on carbon taxes and education.
1. Are there plans to implement tax incentives for local companies which meet a green standard (that is not slipshod)?
2. Has the government considered discouraging car ownership (or at least encourage hybrids) through other methods? The ERP system helps with the traffic load, but not carbon emission (two different issues). On the same note, there have been increased train frequencies (insufficient? but not to digress) and the implementation of peak-hour bus lanes laws have helped public transport be less of a weary and long ride, but the old ‘park and ride’ system seems to be abandoned or less talked about these days. What plans are there to encourage even more people to use public transport, if not cycling?
3. Along the same thought, with the park connectors, are there further plans to make cycling an easier task on the roads through public awareness/education and facilities (extra shoulder or extra path beside pavements)?
4. On a separate note, trains and buses are constantly being upgraded but the costs of which are passed on to the individual. Back to question 1 of whether the government has plans to take on the financial and tax burden, because when costs of public transport are not justifiable with decreasing cost of cars, it’s just a vicious cycle between being green and being productive (i.e. jams).
Any plans to retrofit future and present HDB flats to make use of solar energy.
Why have we not gone on Euro diesel for cars. It is cleaner and instead being taxed higher for using such cars.
Apparently wind engery is the best of the lot…any plans in the near future and what have we done to include our neighbours on such energy and enviromental issues.
One more….why get so angry about Bt Timah flooding, when everyone knows that its a flood prone area. haha
And
Do you have enough sensors and will it work underwater.
1) Let us have a carbon tax so we can have more income and revenues! It will not affect us since we are so filthy rich that we can afford air conditioning and cars.
2) Let us increase the ERP even more. Piss us to see those poor people with cars and it is decreasing our speed. We are the elite, we have the right to move uninterrupted. Anyway, we have allowances and ERP is non of our business.
3) Electricity Bill, Water Bills, Property taxes, Conservation Tax, GST, CPF tax, Stamp duties for HDB, gas, food, toto, 4D, lottery , let us increase it. There is nothing they can do to us, those pig brains. After all, we dont even need to work, we just have money rolling in!
The above mention comments r fiction but it speaks of how our gov is always thinking of money instead of thinking on how to improve the people’s welfare. We seen too much of their housing grants, housing benefits, holiday leaves, pay bonuses, ns bonus, economy bonuses, mid year bonuses, performance bonuses, annual bonueses, director fees, stocks and shares of TH and GIC already.
Is there any effort put into research for alternative fuel for oil, excluding what we have currently, eg. solar, wind, nuclear.
If the government is serious about the environment,why are hawkers and retailers using plastics like there is no tomorrow…I really mean NO TOMORROW.
There were no such things as plastic back in the 70′s…people have to bring their own basket to wet markets and containers to tapow food.
The use of disposable utensils is very damaging to the environment…No point having a recycle bin when the wastage is more than benefit of recycling.