Members of more than 10 environmental groups nationwide began a month-long call to action yesterday to mark this year’s Earth Day, which is April 22.
The non-profit Taiwan Environmental Information Association announced the launch of the nation’s Earth Day campaign, dubbed “Let’s Green Up,” at a press conference held in Taipei.
This year’s efforts aim to attract 5 million individuals and groups throughout the nation to register for an international online “green up” campaign, association chairman Chen Chien-chih (陳建志) said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
By signing up on the Web site — Earthday.org.tw — supporters can choose a set of environmentally-friendly actions to follow for the campaign.
For example, registrants can decide whether to consume energy more wisely and use energy-efficient transportation, engage in more recycling or support politicians who advocate environmental protection, association deputy secretary-general Hsia Tao-yuan (夏道緣) said.
Last year, a similar campaign attracted 261 individuals and groups nationwide to join, Hsia said. He expressed hope the number would increase significantly and break the 5 million mark this year.
In addition to the online campaign, the association and other local environmental organizations will organize an anti-nuclear demonstration parade in Taipei on April 30, Hsia said.
They hope the planned march, nicknamed the “Sunflower Movement,” will attract 100,000 people to take to the streets to demonstrate their concern about nuclear safety and global warming, he added.
“Nuclear energy can not resolve the problem of global warming: On the contrary, it poses a greater threat,” Hsia said.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS