Environmentalists are planning a public march and rally in Taipei on Saturday next week to raise awareness of how air pollution can harm coral reefs, organizers said.
The protesters are to gather on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building and march past the Legislative Yuan and the headquarters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, calling for a reduction in the use of coal-fired power plants and protection of coral reefs, representatives of several environmental groups organizing the event said.
The participants are also to urge the government to pay greater attention to the effects of carbon emissions on the environment and human health, Action Coalition for Healthy Air in Taiwan head Yeh Guang-perng (葉光芃) said.
The most effective way to improve air quality is to reduce coal-fired power generation, Yeh said, adding that the government’s energy policy is outdated, as it relies heavily on fossil fuels.
A government plan to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on reclaimed land at an industrial park next to coastal algal reefs in the Datan (大潭) area of Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) is evidence that the policy is outdated, he said.
The event is to call for the closure of coal-fired power plants, the protection of coral reefs and the adoption of a green energy policy, Yeh said.
Meanwhile, Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政), head of an action alliance that advocates protection of the Datan reefs, said the feature is a unique ecosystem and has the potential to be named a world natural heritage site.
However, the government’s plan to build the LNG terminal in the area poses a threat to the ecosystem, Pan said, adding that he and other environmentalists would take to the streets to call on the government to protect them.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RSS