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Conference over energy was a step backwards

Last week, after a seven-year hiatus, the National Energy Conference re-convened and ended after two days. During this brief conference, what we saw in the media was merely snippets of news of protests lodged by environmental groups. Most of the viewers or readers have failed to understand why these environmental activists threw a tantrum during the meeting, as a result of lack of in-depth and professional coverage of such an issue. It saddens us to know that the conclusion over emissions drawn by the participants is regressive in comparison with that of 1998.

In 1998, when the KMT was still in power, it convened the first-ever national energy conference in response to the Kyoto Protocol. The 39 industrial countries included in the protocol were expected to reduce emissions to 95 percent of the 1990 level by the 2008-2012 period. Although Taiwan is not a signatory to the protocol, it must take early measures to adjust its industrial structure in order to meet the new regulations. Therefore, in 1998, the resolution passed by the National Energy conference concluded that the nation should reduce emissions to the 2000 level by 2020.

Last week, in response to the Kyoto Protocol, which came into effect in February, the Democratic Progress Party's (DPP) government held another National Energy Conference and confirmed that since 2000, Taiwan's carbon dioxide emissions have skyrocketed to 276 million tones from 221 million tonnes, an annual average growth of 6 percent, the highest in the world. The basic measures that the government should have implemented long ago, such as auditing, reducing industrial CO2 emissions and creating mechanisms for reporting and reducing emissions.

What is even more startling is that no government official has apologized for this dereliction of duty, let alone been punished. Instead, officials have adopted the irresponsible attitude that the situation has changed and that the original goals are simply no longer attainable. They are now calling for a "practical" and "feasible" program to reduce emissions. Since government agencies such as the Ministry of Economic Affairs have wasted seven crucial years, of course the original goals have become impossible. If the government is resolved to sack the negligent officials and reflect on missed opportunities, it might be able to make up for lost time. However, we can see that last week's National Energy Conference did not even bother to set a target, and only agreed to allow each government department to assess the extent of improvement they are able to achieve.

The spirit of the Kyoto Protocol is to regulate global emissions, and each country must do its best to fulfill its responsibilities to the planet. Why the Ministry of Economic Affairs recklessly came to such a ridiculous conclusion is simply an attempt to protect the highly contaminating iron, steel, petroleum and chemical industries. Since the output of these industries is far more than we ourselves need, we should no longer abuse our precious environmental resources simply to meet export demand. The Kyoto Protocol does not only put pressure on Taiwan to reduce pollution, but also to transform its industrial structure away from highly polluting industries.

The most encouraging aspect of the two-day National Energy Convention was to see people from the renewable energy sector calling for the government to provide more funding and resources for research. We believe that only environmentally friendly industries are able to upgrade the economy of the nation.

Instead, the government is elated at the number of job opportunities that the Formosa Group's steel plants and eighth naphtha cracker will create.

Yenwen Peng and Wenyen Hsu are central executive commissioners of the Green Party.

Translated by Daniel Cheng
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