Tainan launched its “beautiful clear sky” plan in 2014. According to figures compiled by the Tainan City Government’s Environmental Protection Bureau, Tainan’s air quality index — the pollutant standards index (PSI) — now has zero occurrences of a “poor” status and has a record-high number of “good” air days. Tainan’s PM2.5 concentration has also improved markedly, showing that the “beautiful clear sky” action plan is having an effect. This year the municipality is going a step further by launching its “beautiful clear sky 2.0” plan, and at the same time getting down to the task of researching and discussing autonomous regulations. It is considering a complete ban on the use of two-stroke scooters in 2019.
The Environmental Protection Bureau says that exhaust fumes from cars, scooters and diesel vehicles are a major source of fine suspended particulate matter (PM2.5). At present, there are still about 160,000 two-stroke scooters in Tainan. The task of speeding up the elimination of old, highly polluting scooters and popularizing low-carbon means of transport such as buses and electric vehicles has all along been an important orientation for the city government. The bureau is currently considering how to formulate autonomous regulations to phase out two-stroke scooters, and it plans to eliminate them completely within Mayor William Lai’s tenure. That would mean that from 2019 onward there would be no more two-stroke scooters on Tainan’s streets.
The Environmental Protection Bureau stresses that the plan is still on the drawing board. The bureau will hold public hearings to solicit the opinions of people from all walks of life, and it will also propose subsidies and other complementary measures with the aim of achieving a consensus among various sectors. If the plan proves to be achievable, the bureau will send the draft autonomous regulations to the city council to get the council’s support.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者蔡文居
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
台南市於二○一四年推出「亮麗晴空」計畫。根據台南市政府環保局統計，台南空氣品質指標（PSI）不良率為百分之零，空氣良好日數是歷年最高，PM2.5濃度也明顯改善，顯示亮麗晴空行動計畫已發揮成效。今年將續推「亮麗晴空2.0計畫」，同時也著手研議自治條例，研擬自二○一九年起全面禁用二行程機車。
環保局表示，汽機車及柴油車排煙是細懸浮微粒（PM2.5）的很大來源，目前台南市仍有約十六萬輛的二行程機車，如何加速汰舊高污染機車，推廣公車、電動機車等低碳交通運具，一直是市府努力的方向。目前也正研議制訂自治條例來逐漸禁用二行程機車，計畫在市長賴清德任內全面完成汰舊，也就是自一○八年起台南市街道不再有二行程機車。
環保局強調，目前這項計畫仍在草擬研議階段，未來將會舉辦公聽會聽取各界的意見，同時也會提出補助等相關配套措施，希望取得各界的共識。如果可行，再將自治條例送議會爭取議會的支持。
(自由時報記者蔡文居)
The death of an Oregon house cat and a pet food recall are raising questions about the ongoing outbreak of bird flu and how people can protect their pets. Bird flu has been spreading for years in wild birds, chickens, turkeys and many other animals. It was first confirmed in US dairy cattle in March. The virus has been causing sporadic, mostly mild illnesses in people in the US, and nearly all of those infected worked on dairy or poultry farms. When the virus is found, every bird on a farm is killed to limit the spread of the disease. Oregon health officials
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