People across the nation yesterday held demonstrations to raise awareness of the negative impact air pollution has on public health.
Parents and children dressed up as superheroes took to the streets in Yunlin County, where the nation’s sixth naphtha cracker, managed by the Formosa Plastics Group, is located, as a symbol of “fighting off” air pollution.
College students — wearing masks of “No-Face,” a character from Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away — said Yunlin has borne the brunt of deteriorating air quality in Taiwan in recent years, but the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has downplayed the severity of the problem and adopted a passive attitude in addressing air pollution.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The students said the EPA has ignored the public as if it were faceless and mute, with their costumes signifying a “silent protest” against the agency’s indifference.
The demonstrators called for the establishment of more air quality survey stations nationwide and urged authorities to push for agreements with corporations to partially suspend operations on days when air quality is poor.
Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Ching-yung (李進勇) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) participated in the demonstration.
Photo: CNA
Lee said the county government is against pursuing economic development at the cost of public health.
He said that the central government should not use economic growth as a pretext to protect large corporations and called on industrial firms to fulfill their corporate social responsibility by using clean fuels.
Despite being planned as a peaceful event, tensions rose when several demonstrators tried to break into the naphtha cracker complex, with scuffles breaking out between the protesters and police.
In Kaohsiung, protesters rallied against perceived air pollution from the South Star ferry special zone project proposed by the Kaohsiung City Government.
Demonstrators said the project to establish a ferry manufacturing zone in the Dalinpu Community (大林埔) would leave the community cornered by the zone, existing smelters, power plants and petrochemical plants, making it difficult for factory emissions to dissipate.
They said the municipal government should install air purifiers in their homes if it presses on with the pollution-intensive project.
In Taipei, members of the Trees Party and children acted out a skit on Ketagalan Boulevard, in which they donned gas masks while exercising next to an “air quality flag” indicating dangerous levels of air pollution.
Trees Party Cochair Lin Chia-yu (林佳諭) said that, as people breathe more heavily while exercising, inhaling large amounts of airborne pollutants in dirty air could have a negative effect on children.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,