Insidious abuse unchecked
Despite its low birth rate, Taiwan still has an inordinate number of very cute babies. While I naturally smile and giggle at them, I sometimes wonder what would happen if I thwacked one really hard on the head. You can imagine: Facebook and Twitter would explode, the media would erupt in a feeding frenzy and I would be rightfully condemned.
However, every day something much more sinister is happening to our babies: They are being poisoned by insidious, omnipresent pollution (“Doctors protest pollution, cite cancer link,” Dec. 7, page 3).
Almost no one equates this kind of grievous bodily harm with child abuse or murder, although one expert recently had the courage to call it “legal murder” (“Strict regulations needed to prevent air pollution,” Dec. 29, page 3).
However, there is a glimmer of hope.
Fossil fuels have been condemned as the destroyers of the global climate and ecosystems that they are, and more people are also protesting against the other evil of burning fossil fuels: The mass poisonings and killings attributable to air pollution, which affects the most vulnerable members of society, our children.
Taiwan has recently seen dangerous levels of air pollution and now we have learned that other health risks are increasing, for example, asbestos (“Air pollution hits critical levels,” Dec. 19, page 3 and “Labor advocacy groups call for ban on asbestos,” Dec. 22, page 4).
Instead of protecting our most precious possession, our health, politicians continue to twiddle their thumbs.
Are not politicians supposed to protect us? Is not that their job? When will they start implementing the wide range of measures required to protect the public?
Of course, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) solution is to set up yet another task force — in other words, blowing hot air instead of taking action.
So, to all the outraged protesters out there, I can only cry “bravo” and “encore” and “please, sue those unscrupulous businesses that make a profit while ignoring our health.”
Do not let up until we see the end of grievous bodily harm in the name of so-called efficiency, especially now that renewable energy is becoming an economically viable alternative.
Flora Faun
Taipei
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