People should have the freedom to breathe fresh air, just as they have the freedoms of speech and assembly, environmental group Air Clean Taiwan said on Thursday, as it prepared to stage an annual march against air pollution in Taipei tomorrow.
The event is to begin at noon in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and march toward Liberty Square (自由廣場), the group said.
Air Clean Taiwan chairman Yeh Guang-perng (葉光芃) at a news conference on Thursday called on the government to grant people the right to breathe freely, end its centralized energy policy decisionmaking and hold a national conference on climate action.
The group has been calling for a timetable to phase out coal-fired energy production and tighten the nation’s yearly average standards for PM2.5 — fine particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less — from 15 micrograms per cubic meter to 10 micrograms per cubic meter, as recommended by the WHO.
The march is to end at the square to evoke the spirit of the Wild Lily Student Movement, which sought democracy and freedom at the venue in 1990, Yeh said.
In a democratic nation, people should have equal rights to breathe fresh air, but residents of central and southern Taiwan often suffer from worse air quality, he said.
This year’s march is to feature a butoh dance by local performers, the group said.
The performers hope to convey the urgency of the climate crisis and cry out for the environment through the dramatic gestures of butoh, dance troupe instructor Wu Wen-tsui (吳文翠) said, adding that they would follow participants throughout the march.
Economic development is important, but officials should think about the environment they want to leave to future generations, National Federation of Teachers’ Unions president Chang Hsu-cheng (張旭政) said, adding that the federation would galvanize teachers for a long-term fight for fresh air.
The nation’s yearly average concentration of PM2.5 has declined from 24 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 16.2 last month, EPA data showed.
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