Taiwan should adopt legislation similar to that of other countries to combat light pollution, New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said jointly with the Taiwan Dark-Sky Association on Saturday.
Since 2015, there have been about 2,300 annual cases of light pollution reported to authorities in Taipei and New Taipei City, she said.
However, while the nation has the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法) to regulate air pollution, and the Noise Control Act (噪音管制法) to handle noise complaints, it has no laws to deal with light pollution, she said.
Photo courtesy of the Cingjing Tourism Association
“The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) promulgated guidelines for preventing light pollution in 2021, but there are no legal or administrative implications for those guidelines,” she said.
“The EPA has a negative attitude toward the issue,” she added.
International Dark-Sky Association executive director Ruskin Hartley said that tackling light pollution is a global trend.
Hartley, who recently visited Lienchiang County, cited local bylaws there that prevent light pollution as an example of this trend.
However, even there, people face hundreds of Chinese fishing boats that traverse nearby waters from June to October every year, using bright lights while fishing at night, he said.
Too much light is a waste of energy and also negatively impacts nearby ecology, Taiwan Dark-Sky Association chairman Axiou Lin (林正修) said.
“Excessive light can even impact people’s health, and things like the brightness and type of light, and the angle of light installations are all things that need attention,” he said.
“I hope the government can give the issue more serious thought,” he added.
Introducing legislation to tackle light pollution would also help the government reach its net zero carbon emissions goal, by using energy more efficiently, Chen said, adding that this could be done through the use of more energy-efficient lighting.
Chen said she asked the EPA to deliberate with government ministries, non-governmental organizations and experts on possible legislation to tackle light pollution, and to come up with a proposal within three months.
She also asked the Construction and Planning Agency to discuss possible changes to building standards to require more efficient lighting in all new buildings, the Directorate General of Highways to discuss more efficient street lighting, and the Council of Agriculture to look into more efficient lighting for fishers, she said.
The Bureau of Standards could consult with the International Commission on Illumination or other international standards to help it draft lighting standards for Taiwan, she said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS