Regarding the Nov. 22 article "Fukuda, Singh eye FTA deal by mid-'08": I believe that global warming and recent natural calamities worldwide have sensitized people to natural-gas emissions and pollution. Japan has been preaching to the rest of the world about natural-gas emissions, but it forgets itself: Japan is one of the major consumers of natural resources such as wood and oil, and a major emitter of ozone.
If you go ask Japanese to use forks and knives instead of disposable chopsticks (waribashi) every day, they will start talking about their culture and Japanese tradition, and continue using waribashi. It's a similar story for the cars, air-conditioning systems and refrigerators that are used and dumped. Added wastes each day from PCs and mobile equipment are increasing the burden on global systems.
Recently Japan purchased carbon-dioxide credits from the Philippines, yet there is no sign Japan's appetite is decreasing. Carbon-dioxide credit prices now average $5.63 to $5.90 a ton, according to the World Bank and think tanks. This is peanuts for Japan. No one is going to listen to Japan until the Japanese government acts first and begins leading by example.
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