A question-and-answer session at the legislature in Taipei which Premier William Lai (賴清德) had been scheduled to attend was canceled yesterday as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators occupied the speaker’s podium and continued their protests against the approval of Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) plan to expand a coal-fired power plant in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳).
Shouting slogans, KMT legislators demanded that the approval of the environmental impact assessment on a new Shenao (深澳) Power Plant be revoked.
Taipower should hold public hearings to gauge public opinion about the project and the government should hold a national energy conference to review the nation’s energy policy, they said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) and Deputy Minister Thomas Chan (詹順貴) should step down for allowing a project to pass that would exacerbate the poor air quality in New Taipei City, they said.
Chan, who presided over the review, cast the deciding vote that approved the project when Environmental Impact Assessment Committee members were tied at eight votes for and against.
Chan cannot override the law, KMT caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) said, in reference to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s proposed amendments to the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣汙染防制法), which have been prioritized by the Cabinet for review during the current legislative session.
The DPP has contradicted itself by first saying that it would make efforts to combat air pollution and then passing a review to restart a coal-fired power plant, Lin said.
With the air pollution problem in central and southern Taiwan still unresolved, the DPP now wants to add more air pollution to northern Taiwan, KMT caucus secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said, adding that the government is increasing the nation’s power generation at the cost of people’s health.
The Shenao Power Plant, built in 1957, first began operations in 1960. It was shuttered in 2007 and then demolished.
Taipower began constructing a new plant, equipped with ultra-supercritical steam generators, and plans to have it operational in 2025.
The proposed new plant's emissions would be two-thirds less than the original plant, according to the EPA.
In response to media queries about the criticism, Lai said the ultra-supercritical units would allow emissions at the plant to be brought down to about the same level as that of a natural gas power station.
Lai added that Chan, a prominent environmentalist before assuming his post, has both the conscience of a social activist and the professionalism of a lawyer who used to represent residents who were affected by air pollution in lawsuits filed against developers.
The Executive Yuan would ensure that inspections of emissions at the Shenao plant would be enforced, he added.
This story has been corrected since it was first published to show that the original Shenao Power Plant was torn down in 2007.
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