The nation’s play-it-by-ear policy on energy from renewable sources has created more problems than solutions, leaving agencies without the power to regulate development projects.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday last week acknowledged as much, saying that the government needs to improve environmental protection, communication and bureaucracy, as she met with PV Generation System Association members at the Presidential Office in Taipei. She even tasked Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) with handling interagency disputes on environmental issues.
There have been reports of “conflicts of greens” over solar panel installations in wetlands, bird habitats and fishing ponds. Fishers have protested the construction of offshore wind farms, which they say would disrupt their livelihoods. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) last week said it was cracking down on illegal acts by energy developers, adding that it had issued NT$1.5 million (US$52,795) in fines. Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said the ministry would demarcate “red zones” to limit wind farm development, while the Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) said it was monitoring the condition of Taiwanese humpback dolphins. Not just Taiwanese humpback dolphins are endangered by these projects. The nation’s waters are home to one-third of the world’s shark and dolphin species.
Obviously, the government was unprepared to handle these issues when it four years ago announced its goal to have 20 percent of the nation’s electricity generated from renewable sources by 2025. As of 2019, renewables made up just 6 percent of the electricity generated or purchased by Taiwan Power, up 1.1 percentage points from 2017.
Whether it is the EPA or the OCA, these agencies are at a disadvantage. Despite the EPA’s environmental impact assessment mechanism, it could hardly reject an energy development project. It could ask developers to revise their plans, reduce development areas or supplement environmental surveys — if they had the time and leeway to do so.
Among the Cabinet’s ministers without portfolios for coordinating interagency affairs, there is no one who specializes in environmental impact assessments or anything close to it. The Cabinet’s plan to upgrade the EPA into a full-fledged ministry remains held up after years of talks, reportedly due to disagreements about the agency’s possible takeover of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Water Resources Agency.
Without an agency or leader powerful enough to curb improper development projects, environmental groups have had to fight on their own, at the risk of being mocked as affiliates of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), just because of their criticism of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It is sad to see the DPP, whose rise to power was inseparable from agricultural and environmental movements, shift its focus after it came to power.
It might be understandable, given that the economy and GDP growth are more quantifiable and presentable to the electorate and foreign investors, but it is embarrassing to see officials trumpet their efforts to promote sustainability, while turning a blind eye to ecological disasters caused by ill-planned development projects.
It is the nation’s diverse natural landscapes and rich biodiversity that have attracted many foreign visitors and that distinguish it from countries that care only about flexing their muscles and putting up more buildings. In the post-COVID-19 era, what image does Taiwan want to show the world?
The DPP administration, which so cherishes its ties with Washington, should not shy away from proving its commitment to the environment, now that US President Joe Biden has set environmental justice as a priority and planned a climate summit in April.
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