A number of environmental groups yesterday protested outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei to demand that the government withdraw its plan to open the rebuilt coal-fired Shenao Power Plant in New Taipei City.
About 50 people from organizations including the Green Citizens’ Action Alliance, Greenpeace, the Homemakers United Foundation and Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan carried signs reading “Withdraw” and demanded that a representative of the Cabinet come out and face the crowd.
Tsai Ya-ying (蔡雅瀅), an attorney with the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, criticized the process by which the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) Environmental Impact Assessment Committee conducted the review that led to the decision to expand and open the power plant.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The process was flawed on many counts, Tsai said, including the many alterations to the proposal made by state-run utility Taiwan Power Co which had made it necessary for the project to be re-evaluated.
Many of the protesters were concerned about the effects that the two 600 megawatt generators would have on the public’s health and the environment.
Yi Jo-lan (衣若蘭), a mother and resident of Shenao, said the power plant, which has yet to reopen, had severely affected the health of people living close to it in the past few decades.
She said many of her friends and neighbors have died as a result and as a mother it was her responsibility to protect her child.
Researchers from environmental groups also questioned the government’s rationale for wanting to open the power plant, arguing that its coal-fired generators would generate more carbon emissions than a natural gas-fired power plant.
Department of Economics, Energy and Agriculture official Liao Yaw-chung (廖耀宗) accepted the protesters’ petition on behalf of the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the New Power Party held a news conference to voice its opposition to the project, with some of its candidates for city and county councilor seats in November’s local elections asking President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to scrap the project.
Lin Jui-wen (林瑞文) and Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), who are running for council seats in Yilan County and New Taipei City respectively, were worried about the impact the plant would have on the environment, including consequences the government “may not fully comprehend.”
Chen asked the government to re-evaluate the project and propose an alternative that would be more beneficial to the health of local residents.
EPA Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) reacted to the protest and a Greenpeace survey that showed that 75 percent of northern Taiwan residents were opposed to the plan by saying the relevant government agencies should try harder to communicate and explain the project to the public.
Defending the government’s decision, he said the two ultra-supercritical generators to be installed at the power plant would emit carbon at levels that comply with international standards.
The opinions of environmental groups would make government agencies even more keen to protect the environment as they go ahead with the project, Lee said.
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