Calling the government’s energy policies “misguided,” the Climate Change Pioneering Alliance yesterday urged presidential candidates to sign a pledge that they would commission international experts to conduct a complete review of the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
Only by having a broad, comprehensive view of the issue can the government decide what kind of clean power source to transition to that would best benefit the environment, alliance spokesperson Chiang Chao-yuan (江肇元) told a news conference in Taipei.
Electricity involves more than a flick of a switch or sticking plugs into outlets; it is also about transportation, smart industry, clean drinking water and food, Chiang said.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
The UN’s 24/7 Carbon-free Energy initiative — which incorporates renewable resources and nuclear power as low-carbon alternatives — is gaining increasing support from state governments, international corporations and new-general environmental protection groups, he said.
Alliance founder Yang Chia-fa (楊家法) said that because of the government’s misguided energy policies, its energy transition efforts lack public support, have failed to generate revenue for the state, would not reduce coal-fired energy production and ultimately would not benefit the public.
These policies would not reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels and would not increase low-carbon energy sources, Yang added.
LowCarbonPower Ltd Co representative, Olof Nordenstam of Sweden, said that statistics and trends on energy usage from different countries show that nuclear power together with renewable energy can reduce a nation’s carbon footprint and help it achieve net zero emissions.
The alliance called on presidential candidates to pledge that they would commission foreign experts to conduct a complete and transparent inspection of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant if elected.
The group said that presidential candidates should also assess the possibility of extending the lifetime of the three nuclear power plants in service or consider updating their equipment.
Presidential candidates should also ensure that Taiwan maintains an independent atomic energy research facility that will allow the nation to keep up with international trends, the group said.
While they would not be called to commit to using nuclear energy, they should explore all options, including nuclear power, which has been proven to be a viable choice as a low-carbon alternative power source, the group said.
The alliance will provide copies of the pledge to all presidential candidates over the next three weeks in hopes that they would treat the issue seriously, Yang said.
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The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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