JCP Yoshii demands capping of each corporation’s discharge of CO2 emissions

   Japanese Communist Party representative Yoshii Hidekatsu in the February 25 House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting demanded that the government set CO2 emission quotas for each corporation and urge industries to switch to renewable energies as measures to prevent global warming.

   Yoshii pointed out that while European countries have improved their CO2 emission efficiency as calculated in the amount of CO2 emissions relative to GDP, the rate in Japan has been at the same level since 1990. “The government must implement environmental measures that meet the global standards,” he stated.

   Environment Minister Kamoshita Ichiro in reply admitted that with the current measures it has become hard to achieve the reduction targets set by the Kyoto Protocol.

   Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura Nobutaka stated that the introduction of emission trading “is an option” and promised that the prime minister’s advisory panel on global warming will discuss it.

   Yoshii said that behind the European countries’ improvement in the CO2 emission efficiency is their policy of increasing the reliance on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and small-scale water power generation.

   He pointed out that Germany has increased its rate of renewable energy from 4.5 percent in 2001 to 12 percent in 2006 and that this project has doubled the number of related jobs to 230,000. “The use of renewable energy contributes to increases in local job opportunities,” he stressed.

   Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Amari Akira insisted that the introduction of renewable energy will increase the energy cost and that consumer rates will rapidly increase.

   Yoshii stressed that there is no need to increase the power rates because electric companies are charging the public more than 300 billion yen in total a year in the name of developing electric power.
- Akahata, February 26, 2008