An environmental group yesterday expressed skepticism about a Cabinet bill to create a ministry of the environment as lawmakers voted to pass the act in a vote.
The newly passed “organic act of the ministry of the environment” would transform the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) into a ministry responsible for dealing with climate change, conducting environmental impact assessments and recycling, among other issues.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan issued a statement saying that the upgrade does little to address the environmental regulator’s lack of authority to influence natural resource management.
The Executive Yuan’s proposal to establish a multiministerial task force to manage natural resources would likely lead to empty gestures, rather than concrete results, the group said.
Taiwanese environmental groups have been calling for the integration of the agencies in charge of forestry, water, and soil and land development under the EPA for nearly 20 years, to no avail, it added.
The environmental agency needs more than just the power to regulate pollution and carbon emissions to steer the nation through the worsening climate crisis, group executive Tsai Chung-yueh (蔡中岳) was cited as saying.
A plethora of agencies acting independently has contributed to the conflicts between renewable energy construction, and the agriculture and fisheries sectors, a problem that the creation of the new ministry would not resolve, he said.
The task force is not likely to communicate efficiently due to being comprised of officials from different agencies, said the group’s attorney Chan Shun-kuei (詹順貴), who was also a deputy minister of the EPA.
Furthermore, the natural resource management group has no legal status, meaning there is no limit to how long it can refuse to hold new meetings, he said.
Upgrading the EPA’s organizational level while retaining its area of responsibility runs counter to the ostensible reason for the law, which is improving the linkage between emissions reduction and resource management, he said.
The environment ministry’s structure suggests that it would not have the capabilities needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, Chan said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
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