Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
its waterways. Indeed, Taiwan's 'economic miracle' came at a serious price, and pollu-
tion, urban sprawl and industrial waste have all taken a heavy toll on the island.
Things have improved markedly over the last decade. Environmental laws, once
largely ignored by industry and individuals alike, are now enforced far more rigorously
across the board, and the results have been tangible (the Danshui and Keelung Rivers in
Taipei, for example, once horribly befouled, are significantly cleaner in sections). Urban
air quality is noticeably better, thanks to a combination of improved public transport,
more stringent clean-air laws, and a switch to unleaded petrol.
The Taiwanese collective unconscious has changed as well: so much of the new
'Taiwanese identity' is tied in with having a clean and green homeland that people are
tending to take environmental protection far more seriously.
Lest we paint too rosy a picture, it's possible to counter any perceived step forward
with another step back towards the bad old days.
One of the bigger issues belying the image that the Taiwan government hopes to pro-
ject as an environmentally conscious democracy is that of land expropriation - that is,
the legal removal of farmers from privately owned lands. Critics said that a December
2011 revision of the Land Expropriation Act had only served to reinforce the interests of
development, which is very loosely defined to cover anything from military construction
to projects approved by the Executive, over farmers' rights.
Government and industrial proponents of expropriation point to the issue of common
good, saying that transforming farmland into industrial areas creates jobs, reducing the
country's climbing unemployment rate. However, opponents say that the main benefi-
ciaries are a conglomerate of large corporations and real-estate developers.
Although Taiwan's High Speed Rail (HSR) has been touted for making travel around
the island even more convenient, many feel that placement of the stations - in the far
outskirts of Taiwan's westernmost cities as opposed to in the city centres themselves -
has actually promoted both increased traffic and urban sprawl.
A lack of energy resources means that Taiwan is highly reliant on imports to meet its
energy needs. However, the country has a poor record in the use of renewable energy: it
is a major exporter of solar panels but there's almost no domestic use. Against this con-
text, the KMT-led government's nuclear power policy is unlikely to be reversed anytime
soon.
And of course, the ongoing issue of decaying barrels of nuclear waste buried on the
aboriginal island of Lanyu has also yet to be resolved to anybody's satisfaction.
Taiwan's environmental issues are a global concern as well. Despite its diminutive
size, Taiwan is a major CO2 producer. A 2009 study contended that the 4130-megawatt
