There is already a crisis.
Following the Iranian war, many countries affected by the tightening and soaring prices on the oil supply from the affected Middle East states, are considering or have implemented fuel saving measures.
Our neighboring countries have inevitably raised fuel prices, implemented work from home, raised air conditioning temperature in offices and also do away with the suit on workdays.
These fuel reducing measures should have been common practices even when there was no Iranian conflict because a much bigger and damaging crisis is already present and occurring daily.
This is the climate crisis. Crisis because there is more unpredictable , stronger and heavier rains, storms, hurricanes and typhoons in our region. Days of higher temperatures and drought are felt and suffered from more often.
The problem is governments do not escalate or acknowledge them as a crisis, rather a consequence of climate change. Most likely they still pin the problem on their usual go to suspects, El Nino or La Nina.
EL Nino or La Lina current deteriorating effects and more frequent occurrences are due to human actions or inaction. It is caused by humans and government and world bodies tepid attempts to mitigate factors causing climate change and MNCs controlling the narrative and money
Climate has already changed but there is a denial because it shows a failure of governments to mitigate the changes earlier when there were still opportunities to do so . Instead, they let it slip by adopting to build to contain the changes or rectify the consequences rather than stop or reverse the changes because it is cheaper and easier to do .
Large MNCs and corporate bodies aggravated the problem by intensified lobbying of decision makers , threatening countries’ economies, and steamrolled over mitigating and preventive measures at worldwide organized forums and conferences to curb climate change and pollution.
Now, our nation is looking at possible fuel price increases affecting the Budi95 and work-from- home(WFH) for public sectors. If we had adapted to the climate crisis earlier rather than wait for a war , we would not have reset and upend our daily lives significantly.
Increase the price of RON 95 to RM2.05/liter .With the increase in revenue , keep it for a rainy day, a new M or if nothing happens, disburse it as SARA. An additional SARA is just like an extra public holiday; popular with many and it benefits all Malaysians.
The WFH must be reimplemented for government employees and encouraged in the private sector. Provide tax cuts for private employers if they allow WFH for their employees working from home at least twice a week or a certain number of days annually.
Air cond temperatures for all government offices must be set at 25° C from the mandated 24° C at all government buildings. Use fans to generate chill factor with the air cond for that cooling effect.
Our MPs are wearing suits during Parliamentary sessions except Thursday when it is batik day. Make it batik every day, we should be proud of our national heritage and not be aping the West with likely unsustainable expensive imported suits. With batik, air cond temperatures can be raised and the people in power must lead by example in the fight against rising costs of fuel and climate crisis.
By revising RON95 back to RM2.05/ liter, the additional revenue can be used to provide free public transport for all Malaysians under 24.This will not only decrease the number of cars on the road but get the young to adopt public transport even when they are not eligible.
Not everyone can afford to install solar panels at home but a solar heater can also contribute to reducing energy and indirect fuel usage. Give subsidies for homes to install solar heaters to make it cheaper for more to afford it.
The fuel crisis may be sporadic but the climate crisis is part of our daily lives but there is great reluctance to admit it . But this fuel crisis brought about by the conflict shows us we can mitigate both crises with the same actions.
However, these fuel saving proposals must be maintained even after the conflict is over and oil price returns to pre-conflict levels. Because the next fuel crisis could be round the corner, much worse, and catch us once again unprepared.
If we are already in the climate crisis mode, it will be much easier for everyone to transition to critical conditions. And most important of all, we are mitigating actions against the climate crisis and giving future generations better chances for a better environmental future .
Koo Wee Hon (kooweehon@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.