The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday nominated Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance director Jeremy Yang (楊澤民) as its candidate for a March 16 legislative by-election.
Yang is to vie for a legislative seat representing Changhua County’s Lugang (鹿港) and Hemei (和美) townships against former Changhua county commissioner Ko Cheng-fang (柯呈枋) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and former Lugang Township mayor Huang Chen-yen (黃振彥) of the Democratic Progressive Party.
Yang, who has a doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, has served as an associate professor at National Tsing Hua University’s Department of Chemistry, an engineer at IBM and an engineering manager at the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
He has been the director of the alliance since 2011 and the vice president of the Taiwan 228 Care Association since 2016.
Yang said he is contesting the election because “I could no longer stand and watch.”
While Taiwan has plenty of talent, the economy is stuck in an old development model and pollution is tolerated, he said.
His academic training, experience in industry and environmental activism give him a comprehensive perspective on environmental issues, Yang said.
“I was trained as a scientist, but I am also a pragmatist who has worked at private companies,” he said.
If elected, he would promote environmental conservation to protect the county’s environment and residents’ health using his expertise and experience, Yang said, adding that boosting the economy and caring for the environment do not have to be mutually exclusive.
“I hope to create a healthy environment for the future generations and make Changhua a place where people can realize their dreams so that residents would no longer have to leave home to follow their ambitions,” he said.
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