Taiwan Church News 3298 Edition May 11 – 17, 2015 Church Ministry Saving Dadu Plateau Forest, A Group of Mothers Protests Deteriorating Air Pollution Generated From Government’s Industrial Parks And Big Corporations Reported by Simon Lin On May 8, one day before the traditional Mother Day, demanding a basic human right to breathe freely, about 100 environmental activists and parents together with their children protested in masks at the plaza before Taichung City Government. They wanted local and central government to deliver concrete air-pollution improvement projects as early as possible and stop right away the high-polluting and high-energy-consumption industries. Tsai Zeh-hau, General Secretary of Taiwan Ecology Academy, bombarded Taichung City Mayor’s support of the factory expansion of TSMC (Taiwan Semi-conductor Manufacturing Company) on the eco-sensitive Dadu Plateu Forest. Tsai said Mayor Lin Jia-long boasted that Taichung City could reduce 3.23 million tons of CO2 emission from 2012 to 2020, if current carbon reduction policy could be efficiently followed. But, if the factory expansion of TSMC is approved, it would emit 4.40 million tons of CO2 per year. “Why should a dog eat its own tail?”, asked Tsai. Tsai also pointed out that there were 150 thousands trees in the Dadu Plateau Forest which covered 53 hectares land. This eco-sensitive forest was an important buffer to accommodate and sustain the high-density populations of Taichung City and her development’s need. Local government should not deem this forest as a landscape of horticulture only! Translation by Peter Wolfe |