JCP urges Tokyo governor to come up with energy-saving plan

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP urges Tokyo governor to come up with energy-saving plan

Japanese Communist Party Ueki Koji on June 18 used his question time at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly plenary session to call on Governor Ishihara Shintaro to move away from the present policy focusing on large-scale urban development in the name of “urban renaissance” into one of energy-saving.

Ueki pointed out that the amount of Tokyo’s CO2 emissions in 2005 increased by 14 percent from 1990 at a time when many countries are making efforts to cut emissions to stop global warming, and called for a more than 30 percent cut by the year 2020 to be set as the goal for Tokyo.

Ueki presented some practical steps such as curbing the number of new construction projects of large-scale business complexes or commercial buildings and instead strengthening measures to extend the life span of existing buildings.

He also proposed restricting the number of vehicles coming into Tokyo’s urban centers.

Along with these steps, Ueki called on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to consider regulating business hours of late-night convenience stores and supermarkets, controlling the lighting of vending machines and billboard illumination, giving subsidies to small business owners and households to have solar panels installed on their roofs, and providing free eco-light bulbs to low-income households.

Governor Ishihara refused to make a global warming prevention plan as JCP Ueki proposed, but a Tokyo Metropolitan Government official in charge of environment said that the government will consider supporting small business owners in implementing energy-saving efforts. - Akahata, June 19, 2008