Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday vowed to resign next year if air pollution in the nation does not drop by 20 percent by May 20.
At a news conference called to discuss the severe haze that covered the western half of the nation on Wednesday, Lee said the EPA has invested NT$200 billion (US$6.66 billion) to enact 14 policies aimed at ameliorating air pollution.
“While changes cannot be effected overnight, we have seen a gradual improvement,” he said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
If the number of days when the air quality index signals red — meaning “unhealthy” levels — does not drop by 20 percent, he would take responsibility by tendering his resignation, he said.
The smog over Taipei on Wednesday was a result of pollutants gathered by a low-pressure vortex, Department of Environmental Monitoring and Information Management Director-General Chang Shuenn-chin (張順欽) said.
Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Tsai Hung-teh (蔡鴻德) said that the agency’s contingency actions include issuing an A-level warning over 16 counties and cities, demanding a decrease in chronic pollutant emissions and calling on Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) to curtail power output.
Photo: CNA
In other developments, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) yesterday called for a careful evaluation of anti-pollution policies and how they might affect the ability of Taipower to supply electricity.
The Taichung City Government on Wednesday agreed to extend the service life of nine coal-fired generators on the condition that Taipower reduce its coal usage by 24 percent.
Local media reports have also said that Kaohsiung has demanded that Taipower’s Singda Power Plant cut its coal usage by 20 percent by March.
Local governments targeting of Taipower’s coal usage would affect energy supply across the nation, Shen said, calling on the central and local governments to carefully consider how to balance clean-air and power supply policies.
Local governments must be aware that coal-fired plants are baseload plants and reducing coal usage would necessitate their replacement with combined cycle gas turbine generators, which begs the question of how one would acquire a sufficient supply of natural gas, Shen said, adding that the ministry has asked Taipower to conduct an assessment and suggest contingency measures, Shen said.
The ministry’s decision on scaling down its operational energy reserves ratio to 7 percent would depend on the assessment, he said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
FINANCES: The KMT plan to halt pension cuts could bankrupt the pension fund years earlier, undermining intergenerational fairness, a Ministry of Civil Service report said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal to amend the law to halt pension cuts for civil servants, teachers and military personnel could accelerate the depletion of the Public Service Pension Fund by four to five years, a Ministry of Civil Service report said. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Aug. 14 said that the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) should be amended, adding that changes could begin as soon as after Saturday’s recall and referendum. In a written report to the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said that the fund already faces a severe imbalance between revenue
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