>Mr. Shintaro Ishihara Governor of Tokyo, stated “Environment First' on his election campaign poster and is promoting and 'environmentally focused' Tokyo Olympics, even setting a 25% reduction target of CO2. However, the usage of metropolitan tax to chop down 80,000 trees of Minamiyama to lose the forest that absorb CO2 definitely contradicts his policy.
If you really want to decrease CO2, you must chop down the trees constantly. Because an aged tree will not occlude CO2. The trees on Minamiyama are already aged too much. It must be chopped down anyway if you really want to decrease CO2.
>This may well develop into an international issue.
If the international citizens will pay their money to buy Minamiyama forest, they will be welcomed! Inagi City have little money to save the forests. Please send us your money to buy the forests in Inagi.
>there is a possibility that Olympic Road Race will pass through Inagi City. I wonder if (the governor) wants to show the construction site to the world.
Yes there is a plan that the cycle road race course will pass through Inagi. But I will not feel guilty because it is just a moment in the process. I will say "Please visit Minamiyama in 2026. There will be new forest around the town of Minamiyama. Or you can chop down your own house and create your own forest."
>It is absolutely absurd to spend tax on the Olympic Hosting Campaign while even more tax money is being spent on environmental destruction that could cost Japan and Tokyo the Olympic Bid. This behaviour is like trying to drive a car, while braking and accelerating at the same time.
He muddles earmarked tax with normal tax together.
Landowners of Minamiyama had been paid Toshikeikaku-Zei (City Planning Tax) for decades. Toshikeikaku-Zei is the earmarked tax for creating and sustaining social infrastructure. Therefore using tax-money for development of Minamiyama town is absolutely legitimate. If you don’t think so, you can complaint it at the court.
Here I raise a question. Why they don’t? I think they know that there is no chance to win for them in the court.
Needless to say, deforestation of Minamiyama is a sorrowful for all of Inagi citizens. But we made a decision after the long and painful discussion. I already made it clear that full conservation of Minamiyama costs at least 25 billion JPY.
Therefore local nature conservation NPO (founded in 1987, directed by Kikuchi Kazumi) reluctantly agreed with landowners that they will not protest to the development in 2006. In return, the landowners of Minamiyama agreed to increase the area for preserve/recreate forests to 18% (Tokyo Metropolitan Government appoints that at least 8% green is required to have the permission for development).
I think there must be the respect for those processes at first.
And you must aware that nobody can stop the development unless the landowners agreed to do so. The mayor of Inagi can’t stop it. Mr. Ishihara can’t stop it. Prime minister of Japan or the president of the United States of America too. Because the landowners do the project legitimately.
The more you spread the imprecise information about Minamiyama around the world, the more the situation be worse. Landowners will be stiff hearted, closed minded. One thing we can do is to donate some money to Kikuchi Kazumi’s NPO for buying forests. Landowners and her NPO already made an agreement that the NPO can buy the Minamiyama forest at unprofited price. And mayor Ishikawa had promised that Inagi city will not charge the tax on the conserved forests.
