Ahead of tomorrow’s committee review of proposed amendments to the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣汙染防制法), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of “putting on a show” and not being serious about combating air pollution.
The KMT is opposed to the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ heavy-handed approach toward removing the limits on the amount of natural gas that can be used by power plants, the caucus told a news conference.
Emissions by state-run enterprises should be gradually reduced on a yearly basis and an “air pollution prevention fund” should be set up, the KMT added.
Citing Article 14 of the DPP’s proposed amendments, KMT caucus secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said the government’s regulations on natural gas were too lax.
According to the draft article, power plants need not obtain permits or be subjected to an environmental impact assessment, which is counterproductive to fighting air pollution, Lee said.
The provision is difficult to swallow for environmentalists and ordinary people, as it is aimed at boosting the nation’s electricity generation capacity under the guise of combating air pollution, she said.
Lee also criticized the DPP for proposing a rule stating that the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) should consult the Ministry of Economic Affairs when formulating measures to tackle air pollution on days when the air quality hits dangerous levels.
The draft rule would make the EPA subordinate to the ministry and therefore undermine the act, Lee said.
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) earlier this month said it ordered all coal-fired power plants nationwide to decrease their power output by 20 percent in response to severe air pollution, but the number was falsified, as it took into account power generators that were undergoing maintenance, KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) said.
Excluding the power generators that were shut down when Taipower claimed to be lowering the power plants’ capacity, the actual amount of capacity reduction would total a mere 3 percent, Wang said.
The KMT caucus would propose a rule in its draft amendment that stipulates by how much power plants’ output should be reduced as an emergency measure to respond to dangerous levels of air pollution, she said.
The DPP said it would strive to reduce PM2.5 — airborne particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter — but it has proposed expanding the Shenao coal-fired power plant in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said.
“The DPP either has thick skin or thinks people are fools,” he said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
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
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS