Amid the Anti-Epidemic Battle, Environmental Protection Defense Line, Nevertheless, First Reports Cracks, Leading to Possible Collapse

 Amid the Anti-Epidemic Battle, Environmental Protection Defense Line, Nevertheless, First Reports Cracks, Leading to Possible Collapse

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

February 25, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

Examining the government's many recent acts, we may find that civic groups frequently accuse the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of letting down its guard and providing cover for transgressions. For instance, with regard to the construction of the "Danshui-Taipei Road", which has elicited disputes for as long as 20 years, pros and cons in public opinions, but the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Conference, in a ten-minute closed-door session, passed it, nearly without any discussions. As another instance, the EIA Conference last month passed the case of the new LNG-fired generators for the “Taichung Coal-fired Power Plant”, ignoring the demand by figures in the locality for the “decommissioning” of the old coal-fired generators, instead asking to keep them as reserve generators. Not only that, the EPA a couple of days ago also wrote to Taichung City Hall, demanding that it "rectify" its decision to nullify the permit for the operation of generators in the Taichung Coal-fired Power Plant, obviously an abuse of authority.

In addition, with regard to the “Taoyuan City Railroad Underground” project, costing over NT$100 billion, the EIA Conference, in a short 50-minute session, quickly passed it. The Chang-Ping Industrial Zone planned to add a "processing plant for industrial waste treatment", including an incinerator, landfill, and recycling facilities, etc., which cause misgivings about damaging oceanic ecology, air pollution, and groundwater pollution. However, the EIA Conference, for the first time surprisingly invoked the “provisions of sitting-in regulations”, allowing environmental protection members to take a vote demanding a ban on on-site live broadcasts by environmental groups. The fifth EIA report for the "Erlinfu Precision Machinery Industrial Park" in Changhua also invoked the ban on live broadcasts to railroad its passage in a closed-door meeting.

The aforementioned acts explain that EIA in Taiwan has arrived at a "new conservative era". The DPP government's EPA has in turn played the role of providing cover, turning the green light for various development projects, and not for safeguarding Taiwan’s environment. We can only sigh over such a transformation, as it is doubly ironic.

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