Hundreds of campaigners yesterday took to the streets in Taipei to demand government action to ensure clean air and to raise awareness about the threat of global warming.
The demonstrators convened in front of the Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei, where environmental activists, academics and event participants gave speeches. Some participants said they came from Yunlin and Kaohsiung.
Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) said the international community is not doing enough to meet the Paris Agreement goal reached during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) this month to cap global warming at 2°C and drive the figure down to 1.5°C if possible.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Lee said that carbon reduction goals proposed at the Paris meeting would lead to a global temperature rise of 2.7°C 30 to 50 years from now, and he urged Taiwanese to cut their annual carbon emissions per capita of 11 tonnes.
Lee said that if the international community is to achieve its goal of capping the global temperature increase at 1.5°C, people must achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050, meaning the amount of carbon dioxide produced should not exceed that which can be reabsorbed.
National Taiwan University Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene professor Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) urged the government to shut down coal-fired power plants and not to “terrorize” people by saying that doing so would cause an energy shortage.
Photo: CNA
Chan said scientific studies have shown that the nation would have enough energy without coal-fired power plants.
He said that Taiwanese consume more than 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per capita each year, while Germans and Japanese use between 7,000 and 8,000kWh per capita, indicating Taiwanese could adopt a more energy-efficient lifestyle.
The crowd later moved to the Presidential Office Building, with some participants holding up elaborate props and playing music.
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The three vice presidential candidates also discussed their parties’ commitment to cutting carbon emissions.
People First Party presidential candidate James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) running mate, Republican Party Chairperson Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), touted her experience helping people fight companies creating pollution during her time as Hsinchu County councilor and pledged to push legislation to work toward yesterday’s appeals if her party is able to form a caucus after the Jan. 16 elections.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said that environmental issues cannot be neglected during the pursuit of economic development and that the if she and KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) were elected, Chu would set up a task force to deal with environmental issues.
Wang said the KMT would lobby for the cancelation of the preferential electricity prices the government offers corporations.
Democratic Progressive Party vice presidential candidate Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), formerly an Academia Sinica vice president, touted his credibility to tackle environmental problems, noting his experience advocating against the construction of Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co’s (國光石化) naphtha cracker and his collaborations with prominent academics, such as Lee and National Chung Hsing University environmental engineering professor Tsuang Ben-jei (莊秉潔), on studies concerning carbon reduction and epidemiology studies concerning health hazards associated with PM2.5 — airborne pollutants measuring less than 2.5 micrometers.
Association of Yunlin Art, Culture and Ecology member Lin Fu-yuan (林富源) said that Chen needed to answer how he would tackle pollution caused by the Formosa Petrochemical Corp naphtha cracker complex in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮), whose environmental impact assessment was passed when the DPP was in office.
Unable to give an immediate response, Chen said he would take Lin’s opinions to the DPP for an internal review.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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