Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) yesterday said that he has accepted President William Lai’s (賴清德) invitation to serve as a consultant on his National Climate Change Strategy Committee, adding that he agreed with proposals to continue using nuclear energy.
The committee was one of three established one month after Lai took office on May 20, along with the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee and the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee.
Pegatron Group (和碩集團) chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), who supports the use of nuclear energy, has been retained by the president to serve as the deputy convener of the climate change committee.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Many have perceived the appointment as a significant shift from the “nuclear-free homeland” policy, which the president’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been espousing for decades.
Lee, 87, told political commentator Huang Kuang-chin (黃光芹) on her online talk show that he accepted Lai’s invitation because he had participated in many net zero emissions meetings around the world and felt obligated to inform the public about the importance of tackling challenges wrought by global warming and greenhouse gas emissions.
That more than 1,000 people died during the pilgrimage to Mecca this year shows that rising global temperatures could gradually turn the Earth into a place that is unfit for human habitation, the Nobel laureate in chemistry said, adding that humans would not survive natural disasters should global temperatures rise by 3°C.
“If we are not actively reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, we could become extinct like the dinosaurs,” Lee said, adding that this is the view of a responsible scientist, rather than exaggerated statements from an alarmist.
The nation’s goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050 cannot be met if the government fails to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2030, he said.
“Nuclear energy still has its disadvantages given the current level of technology, but the potential disasters that it could bring cannot compare with the complete destruction of the human race,” Lee said.
“What Tung said is what he truly believes in, and he expressed his support for nuclear energy as an entrepreneur and from a scientific perspective. The position has made him a target of criticism, but he is heading in the right direction,” he added.
Lai also knows that the reform is necessary for society to change, but he is under a lot of pressure to make the first step, Lee said.
Given the size and density of Taiwan’s population, the nation cannot sustain itself by simply using renewable energy to replace the use of fossil fuels without using nuclear energy, or extending the use of existing nuclear power plants, Lee said.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS