Environmental groups yesterday called on Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) to place emphasis on the popular demand that the future of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) be decided by a plebiscite.
The groups also urged him to push for renewable energy developments, and — as the nation’s top official in charge of the industrial sector — shoulder the responsibility of managing and supervising the petrochemical industry.
Duh was named minister of economic affairs by Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) on Sunday, after Jiang accepted Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch’s (張家祝) resignation. He is to take office on Friday.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union member Kao Cheng-yen (高成炎) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday that he was shocked at Duh’s remarks during a hearing held on Thursday last week in response to a petition demanding a plebiscite on the nuclear plant, which collected 120,000 signatures.
Quoting Duh’s response to the plebiscite’s question, which asked whether voters agree with a trial run of the nuclear plant involving fuel rods, Kao accused Duh of “playing a word game” by claiming that a trial run and fuel rods are two separate things, as fuel rod insertion is necessary in the procedure of a trial run.
Referring to Duh’s tenure as the Ministry of Economic Affairs Department of Information Technology deputy director-general, when Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) chairman Hwang Jung-Chiou (黃重球) was the departmental head, he said Duh should not side with his “former boss” by blocking the referendum. Rather, Duh should respect Premier Jiang Yi-huah’s (江宜樺) order in April that a referendum be held, Kao said.
Taiwan Renewable Energy Alliance convener Kao Ju-ping (高如萍) said that Duh should push for renewable energy development, since the nation has abundant resources for generating wind and solar energy.
She said that Taiwan is better positioned than Germany, the global leader in green energy, to develop the two energy sources.
She said that German-made wind turbines, which on average generate about 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity in Germany, can generate up to 3kWh in Taiwan’s Changhua Coastal Industrial Park.
She said that developing alternative sources of energy would also help create domestic jobs.
As the ministry is the governing authority of the petrochemical industry, Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) called on Duh to streamline cooperation between central and local governments in the management of fuel and gas pipelines.
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