Environmental advocates yesterday said that they are to launch a protest against air pollution in Kaohsiung next month, calling on the candidates in the city’s mayoral by-election to join the event and propose solutions to pollution.
About a dozen representatives from environmental groups at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei urged people to pay more attention to Taiwan’s worsening air quality, especially in the nation’s south.
The protest is to be held on Aug. 9, said Lee Chien-cheng (李建誠), spokesman for South Taiwan Air Clear, one of the organizers.
Photo: CNA
Kaohsiung has become a city with the “three highs,” Lee said, referring to high levels of carbon emissions, air pollution and lung cancer.
People want an inhabitable Kaohsiung with clean air and a healthy environment, as opposed to a lot of energy-intensive and high-emission industries, or “cancer wards,” he said.
Kaohsiung residents face severe environmental hazards, which should be immediately addressed, he said, adding that hopefully the candidates in the Aug. 15 election would present clear platforms on the matter.
Taiwan should catch up with South Korea’s efforts to combat global climate change, Air Clean Taiwan chairman Yeh Guang-perng (葉光芃) said, citing goals that South Korea set during the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
The central and local governments must unite to reach a consensus on a timeline to phase out coal use before completely eliminating it from Taiwan’s energy portfolio, Yeh said.
The future Kaohsiung mayor should have the vision and ambition to transform the city to a low-carbon, sustainable city, instead of following its old industrial development model, which relies heavily on coal for energy, Yeh said.
On Wednesday, Air Clean Taiwan said that it would launch an anti-air pollution protest in Taichung on Aug. 8 with other groups.
Additional reporting by Peng Wan-hsin
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