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EDITORIAL: Candidates need to come clean

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government should be commended for sending representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Bali to participate in the UN Climate Change Conference, even though Taiwan has no formal representation at the international body.

Upon returning from the summit, Deputy EPA Minister Chang Feng-teng (張豐藤) said the goals of Taiwan's representatives were to understand the latest developments in international environmental standards, "so that we can make laws accordingly."

But the problem with many of the nation's environmental laws is that they exist only on paper; they may be well designed, but they are poorly enforced.

This is evidenced in the government's willingness to allow Formosa Group to build a steel plant and the fact that two of the nation's power plants rank first and sixth in the world in terms of the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions they churn out.

But blame should not only be placed at the DPP's door. When the party came to power, the laws in place were those created -- and rarely enforced -- by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) during the Martial Law era, when economic development outweighed environmental concerns.

If KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- with his pro-business rhetoric, vague promises to protect the environment and statements about decentralizing the voting process -- is elected, we can expect to see those same old KMT policies continue.

Government officials can talk until they turn blue in the face about the environment, but unless they learn to view economic development and environmental policy as equally important and build a framework for local and national agencies to tackle pollution together, it'll just be more hot air.

Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) said as much on Thursday when he called on the government to develop a science and technology framework with goals for "developing renewable energies and resource conservation."

In a country that imports 98 percent of its energy and is heavily dependent on fossil fuels to keep its economy running, authorities should pour more capital into developing and promoting alternative energies.

As the price of crude oil is almost US$100 per barrel and 10,500 tonnes of oil recently spilled into the Yellow Sea, damaging fragile ecosystems, there is even more incentive to act fast.

Not only is "green" energy the better option ethically and in terms of sustainability, it also makes economic sense.

Last year alone, the solar energy industry pulled in NT$21.1 billion (US$650 million) in revenues and, according to government estimates, it is expected to see phenomenal growth, hitting NT$403.1 billion by 2015.

Gintech Energy, to give one example, recently signed a NT$1.95 billion supply contract with Canadian Solar.

With a little political will, there is no reason why Taiwan can't create a sustainable energy industry that is as large and important as its semiconductor industry. The government should provide greater incentives to develop and nurture the sustainable energy sector.

In addition, exporting sustainable technologies overseas would boost the nation's political capital internationally and help reduce global warming.

Both presidential candidates need to come clean on their environmental policies to give commentators and the public a chance to examine the viability and sustainability of their proposals.
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