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 (
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 (
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 (
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.
Elbridge Colby, America’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is the most influential voice on defense strategy in the Second Trump Administration. For insight into his thinking, one could do no better than read his thoughts on the defense of Taiwan which he gathered in a book he wrote in 2021. The Strategy of Denial, is his contemplation of China’s rising hegemony in Asia and on how to deter China from invading Taiwan. Allowing China to absorb Taiwan, he wrote, would open the entire Indo-Pacific region to Chinese preeminence and result in a power transition that would place America’s prosperity
When Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) first suggested a mass recall of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, the Taipei Times called the idea “not only absurd, but also deeply undemocratic” (“Lai’s speech and legislative chaos,” Jan. 6, page 8). In a subsequent editorial (“Recall chaos plays into KMT hands,” Jan. 9, page 8), the paper wrote that his suggestion was not a solution, and that if it failed, it would exacerbate the enmity between the parties and lead to a cascade of revenge recalls. The danger came from having the DPP orchestrate a mass recall. As it transpired,
All 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), formerly of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), survived recall elections against them on Saturday, in a massive loss to the unprecedented mass recall movement, as well as to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that backed it. The outcome has surprised many, as most analysts expected that at least a few legislators would be ousted. Over the past few months, dedicated and passionate civic groups gathered more than 1 million signatures to recall KMT lawmakers, an extraordinary achievement that many believed would be enough to remove at
A few weeks ago in Kaohsiung, tech mogul turned political pundit Robert Tsao (曹興誠) joined Western Washington University professor Chen Shih-fen (陳時奮) for a public forum in support of Taiwan’s recall campaign. Kaohsiung, already the most Taiwanese independence-minded city in Taiwan, was not in need of a recall. So Chen took a different approach: He made the case that unification with China would be too expensive to work. The argument was unusual. Most of the time, we hear that Taiwan should remain free out of respect for democracy and self-determination, but cost? That is not part of the usual script, and
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