wfn.org | TCN: Environmental groups raise awareness on preservation during WED

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>2989 Edition

>June 8~14, 2009

Environmental groups raise awareness on preservation during WED

>Reported by staff reporters

>Written by Lydia Ma

Many environmentalists gathered on June 5th, or World Environment  Day (WED),

for an international forum at National Taiwan Normal University to  share about their

recent academic research and promote environmentalism.

According to experts, though many citizens are increasingly  concerned about the

environment, Taiwanese media no longer provide detailed coverage  on

environmental movements because they fear backlash from major  corporations will

compromise revenue from advertisements. Therefore, environmental  protection is

left in the hands of private citizens as the media no longer  serves as a guardian

>against environmental degradation.

During this forum, experts reminded participants about the Earth  Charter and its

focus on respect for life, the ecosystem, social justice, and  equality and earth-

friendly values for future generations. Earth Charter Taiwan CEO  He Jung-shiun

said Taiwanese media used to report about environmental protection  movements in

the past to shed light on environmental degradation. However,  issues such as

public harm caused by electromagnetic waves are rarely reported  nowadays, even

when environmental organizations issue press releases alerting  media outlets.

He Jung-shiun revealed he had learned from friends that  telecommunication

companies have agreed to pull out advertisements en masse whenever  they hear

about a certain media outlet reporting that telecommunication  bases are harming

the public’s health or residents are staging demonstrations  to force the removal of

bases. Furthermore, these companies also pressure media outlets to  pull out news

stories dealing with these issues. Because media outlets fear  losing a significant

amount of their funding provided by these telecommunication  companies through

advertisements, they no longer cover these issues. As a result,  the public slowly

forgets about public and environmental harm caused by  telecommunication

>technology.

When asked to compare the DPP’s environmental policies with  the current KMT

administration, He Jung-shiun replied that the previous  administration was more

willing to engage in discussions about the environment. However,  the current KMT

government’s interaction with environmental groups remains at  a superficial and

perfunctory level. According to He Jung-shiun, this trend is  indeed alarming for

those concerned for Taiwan’s environmental preservation.  Fortunately,

environmentalism has evolved into many grassroots social movements  in the past

>20 years.

In related news, Taitung Environmental Protection Alliance staged  a rally and music

concert on World Environment Day to raise awareness against the  construction of a

nuclear waste plant in the area. The Alliance hopes to remind  Taiwanese people to

help preserve Taitung’s beautiful scenery by opposing the  plant’s construction.

According to Rev. Saulajluji, whose evangelical center is located  near the site

where the plant will be built, local churches have staged marches  near the

construction site to voice their opposition and remind the  government to respect

>natives living in the area.

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