Politicians can easily be misguided when it comes to environmental matters. Last year the pre-handover Legislative Council blocked the administration's attempt to bring in a modest increase in the tax on diesel, which might have encouraged some motorists to shift to cleaner sources of fuel. This week, at least one provisional legislator has pledged to oppose the attempt by Financial Secretary Donald Tsang to reintroduce that increase in his Budget.
Given such short-sighted attitudes, there must be fears that the tough new rules announced yesterday, which should significantly cut the pollution caused by imported cars, will also fall foul of the provisional legislature. Fortunately they only need be tabled in the form of regulations at Wednesday's sitting of the interim body, which should reduce the scope for objections and obstruction.
Emissions from diesel vehicles are the main cause of the worsening air pollution which has developed into a critical problem over the past few years. For years under British rule, the administration showed little interest in tackling the issue. The present Government's commitment can be half-hearted. While Mr Tsang is happy to make money out of fighting pollution by raising diesel duty, he is less enthusiastic about spending it on cleaning up Hong Kong - funding for new environmental protection works is set to be cut this year.
Although the new regulations will lead to substantial reductions in the permissible level of polluting emissions, these will only prevent about 270 cars from being imported every year. More needs to be done, especially to address pollution from trucks which is not covered by yesterday's announcement.
But at least the Government is moving the right way. The same cannot be said of too many politicians. They have to learn that it is time to get down to the serious job of making this a cleaner place in which to live.
