EPA Deliberately Serves as Big Brother, Providing Protective Cover to the Taichung Coal-fired Power Plant

 EPA Deliberately Serves as Big Brother, Providing Protective Cover to the Taichung Coal-fired Power Plant

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

February 21, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

In order to improve air quality, Taichung City Hall last year meted out consecutive penalties to the Taichung coal-fired power plant, which caused air pollution, and revoked the operating permits for two generators in the power plant. Taipower filed an administrative appeal to Taichung City Hall, but the result has yet to come out. Unexpectedly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) very recently, surprisingly using "violating the Anti-air Pollution Act" as grounds, demanded that Taichung City Hall rectify its penalty on the Taichung power plant. At this juncture, the EPA surprisingly forgot its obligation was to safeguard people’s health, but considered itself as the Big Brother providing protective cover to the power plant. It is indeed a topsy-turvy role!

It is sad that Chan Shun-kuei, a former deputy administrator of the EPA, in order to endorse an energy policy that contradicted its name by its substance, thought nothing to bet his lifetime reputation on the Shenao Power Plant, but eventually he was miserably betrayed by politicians. Following that lesson, the EPA still has not clearly understood its original mandate and role, and surprisingly still thought nothing to go on selling out its own professionalism to serve as lackeys for the foxy politicians. Speaking bluntly, as long as Taichung’s air quality does not improve, the Taichung coal-fired power plant can hardly shake off its tainted name. It may be said that the EPA, in playing the protective role, does not understand how much weight it carries!

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