Although most Taiwanese recognize the importance of environmental protection, they have a poor grasp of the subject and even worse habits, the Taiwan Public Opinions Studies Association said at a press conference yesterday.
Drawing from a poll of 1,072 randomly selected adults aged 20 and above, association chairperson Lin Chen-yang (林鎮洋) said most people were aware of government laws and policies on the environment.
“They feel the government should spend more on protecting the environment and developing renewable energy, and that when it comes to conflicts of interest, the environment should come before development,” he said.
However, most respondents said they were not willing to spend more than 20 percent more on products that are environmentally friendly, while only 30 percent said they did something for the environment on a daily or weekly basis.
Less than 60 percent said they would inform the authorities if they witnessed violations of environmental laws, he said.
Green Party Taiwan Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲), who was present at the meeting, said that part of the reason for this inaction was the belief that environmental protection means sweeping streets and cleaning public toilets.
It is therefore the government’s responsibility to raise the public’s environmental consciousness to a higher level, Pan said.
“For example, while most people would say they want to ride a bike to work rather than drive, the fact remains that [vehicles] are more convenient to get around. Without the government promoting policies that affect people’s lifestyles, people are more likely to drive and less likely to change their habits,” he said.
In addition to policies set by the Environmental Protection Administration, the environmental regulations of other government agencies, such as the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, should be taken into account when assessing government efforts, he said.
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