Greek fuel tax policy no gains only losses

Greeks need to stay warm while facing rising fuel costs amid unemployment.

Due to increased fuel costs, Greeks are burning woods to stay warm and this causes air pollution problem in major cities.  The concentration of fine air particles has risen 30 percent since the financial crisis began, leading to potential long-term health effects.

These fine particles, measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter, are especially dangerous because they can lodge deep into the tissue of lungs.
Read Greek Economic Crisis Leads to Air Pollution Crisis http://pressroom.usc.edu/greek-economic-crisis-leads-to-air-pollution-crisis/

The huge increase in demand for firewood has led to a surge of illegal logging.  Also, funds relating to environmental projects are being channeled away from the environment to cover the national debt.

Even some thousand-year-old ancient olive trees are being chopped down to feed fire places, a great loss for Greece's cultural heritage.  Read Protecting Crete's ancient olive trees from being fed to the fire
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_24/12/2013_533063

IOBE think-tank showing heating oil consumption has dropped by about three-quarters since 2009. In terms of revenues from heating oil tax, the government was more than 200 million Euros behind its target at the end of November.  Read Smog from fireplaces in Greek cities causes political headache http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_23/12/2013_533591

Read Creditors reject 15 pct reduction on heating oil tax http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_11/10/2013_522724

The end results are no gains and only losses summarized below:

1. There are no increased tax revenue from collecting heating oil tax, as a matter of fact, it is a disaster policy according to this analysis.  Read Quick and dirty analysis: Greek heating oil tax
http://www.udel.edu/johnmack/apec406/greek_oil_tax_analysis.html

2. During winter there is severe air pollution in major cities all over Greece causing environmental and health problems.

3. The chopping down of thousand-year-old ancient olive trees is a great loss for Greece's cultural heritage.  In Taiwan old trees are respected and protected as 神木 (literally translated as "God" wood).

If you don't believe that most Greeks cannot afford to pay for the heating oil, just remember that one in two companies are not paying employees in time from this link http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_18/12/2013_532809

This winter I have increased the frequency of food donation delivery to my local church.

Earth Hour: Lights off on Saturday March 28th between 8:30 and 9:30 pm

If the weather allowed, cuddling up with your loved ones and admiring the stars in the night sky. http://www.earthhour.org/news/

Greece leads Earth Hour Race http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100010_19/03/2009_105642

Note for tourists: On Saturday, March 28, between 8.30 and 9.30 p.m., the lights will go out on the Parthenon in Athens, Thessaloniki’s White Tower and several other prominent landmarks as thousands of citizens and businesses join in, flicking off light switches in their homes and stores.

Read 5 really educative stories in the world about how global warming is affecting our environment and our daily lives http://www.earthhour.org/supporters/

Whether it's for business or pleasure, once you reach your destination there are lots of things you can do to reduce the impact of your trip:

Rather than hiring a car at the airport choose other ways to get around like public transportation, or hotel minibus airport pick-up service.

Limit energy use, including your use of air-conditioning and hot water. Turn off all lights and taps when you leave hotel rooms.

Conserve water and take showers rather than baths.

Use your hotel towels and bed linen the same way you do at home to minimize washing.

Recycle newspapers, magazines, paper waste, and your beverage containers (many can be returned for refunds), leading hotels should provide recycling depot for their guests to deposit their recyclable waste.

A great option for sightseeing is by biking, or hiking, this avoids emissions and yet let you discover things that you may otherwise just drive-by.

Useful Greek info for hiking:
Walking the Greek islands (serious walkers reference) http://www.islandwalking.com/
Greek Backpacking info http://www.greekbackpack.com/general.shtml

Hiking info http://www.greecetravel.com/hiking/index.htm

http://gogreece.about.com/od/hikingbackpacking/Hiking_and_Backpacking_in_Greece.htm

Useful Taiwan info for hiking and biking:
http://hikingtaiwan.blogspot.com/

http://crooksteven.blogspot.com/2009/01/adventure-abounds-on-world-class-hiking.html
http://bikingintaiwan.theforgetful.com/
http://neilwade.wordpress.com/category/hiking/
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2008/12/16/2003431284

I think by turning lights off for an hour is not enough to campaign for our environment, we should educate our children to always switch off lights, or TVs etc. as soon as they walk away and are not planning to come back immediately.

Engage ourselves in more weekend outdoor activities with our children, so our children will learn to appreciate the nature more than the video games.

And as far as transportation is concerned, I had a chance to visit Amsterdam a couple of years ago, and was very impressed with the Dutch people’s enthusiasm on bicycling to carry out their daily activities.

Amsterdam, the capital city of bicycling in Europe, a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk6YxhKH590 and a text to read http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009450.html and for any city planning committee’s reference to reduce bike-related accidents, a bike box space like this here.

Economic development should not be at the expense of our environment

The carrots and other produce from the farms in Thebes revealed exceptionally high concentrations of chromium on 17-Feb-09 by the Kathimerini’s report, the concern was also raised by earlier report of 06-Dec-07 by Deborah Kyvrikosaios , http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45783/story.htm, and by the article of the Oinofyta Junior High School’s student through the Young Reportets for the Environment program, plus by another earlier article on 25-Aug-07 by Erin Brockovich.

For a map of the area mentioned above, go to google map, and search by typing in “Voiotia, Greece”.

Another big problem in this country’s public sector, and health care system:

Bribery is on the rise although 80% of the people in Greece condemn it, but they do it just to get the job done.

I saw a lot of biological produce from the local supermarkets are imported from other countries such as Italy, and they are quite expensive. The poor people cannot afford to buy these biological produce, so if they eat the polluted local produce and become ill, they also have no money to bribe the doctors to get preferred treatment, is this justice?

Pollution has to be brought under control without exception (possible bribery involved?) in Greece and soon.