Anti-pollution, anti-nukes groups continue campaign despite Typhoon

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

      Taiwan Church News

      3056 Edition

      September 20~26, 2010

       

       

      Anti-pollution, anti-nukes groups continue campaign despite 
Typhoon 

       

      Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

      Written by Lydia Ma

       

       



      Typhoon Fanapi’s landfall this past weekend dampened people’s 
participation in the annual 

      International Coastal Cleanup Saturday on September 18, 2010. 
Despite this setback, seven 

      of the country's counties and cities still managed to mobilize 
cleanup efforts along their coasts, 

      including Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, 
and Kaohsiung

       



      According to Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation, there are 108 
countries worldwide 

      campaigning for cleaner shores. Inspired by their efforts, the 
foundation began a special 

      project in 2008 monitoring pollution near Taiwanese shores. 

       



      Not only does the project involve documenting wastes, it also 
classifies them to uncover the 

      source of most wastes and contact possible polluters to nip the 
problem in the bud. All 

      information gathered by Kuroshio Foundation is then forwarded 
to Taiwan Ocean 

      Conservation Association (TOC) for statistical study.

       



      According to reports, ocean conservation is still foreign in 
Taiwanese people’s mindset and 

      it’s not uncommon to find discarded batteries, fishing nets, or 
other wastes while scuba-diving 

      or snorkeling.

       



      Cleaning beaches serves mostly an educational purpose, said CEO 
Lai Jung-hsiao of the 

      Society of Wilderness Association, adding that the ultimate 
solution is to change people’s 

      lifestyles and views. But this will likely happen only when 
people see environmental 

      degradation first-hand and feel compelled to lobby legislature 
as result.

       



      Besides cleaner beaches, finding better sources of energy is 
also an important environmental 

      issue in Taiwan. National Taiwan Normal University hosted “No 
Nukes Asia Forum” on 

      September 18, 2010, attended by scholars and anti-nuclear 
energy activists from South 

      Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, and more. 

       



      Forum topics included nuclear safety in case of earthquakes, 
relationship between nuclear 

      energy and climate change, renewable energy, and updates on 
anti-nuclear movements in 

      Asia.

       



      According to one delegate, this forum first began in 1993 in 
Japan. At the time, Taiwan was 

      the first country in Asia to vow to stay nuclear-free and such 
a declaration made headlines in 

      the international community. 

       



      Who would have guessed that less than two decades later Taiwan 
would make an about-face 

      in its stance on nuclear energy as soon as the Ma 
administration took office and previously 

      halted nuclear plant constructions would resume?

       

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