Yesterday I attended the first day of the 2011 Hohaiyan Music Festival (海洋音樂祭) at Fulong Beach. The festival, organised by the New Taipei City (formerly Taipei County) Government, has been running since 2000. The festival has two stages with the main stage on Fulong Beach. There are also food stalls and toilets set up on the beach and a huge staff to keep things running smoothly.

When I arrived on the beach I saw members of the No Nukes group (諾怒客) handing out posters and talking to people. It is a reminder that just a few kilometres away from this beautiful beach the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is under construction.  

The theme of the first day was Taike Rock (台客搖滾) and the first band I caught for the day was rapper MC Hotdog. The final song he performed was his well known hit “I love Taiwanese sisters” (我愛台妹). He was joined by a group of dancers for the song. They definitely added some spice to the show.

Next up were electro-rock riot grrrls Go Chic. It was perhaps a little early in the day for a band that demands its fans to dance. Nonetheless they gave an energetic performance that had at least a few people dancing.

Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) took full advantage of the big stage by performing with a total of seven members. They put on a great show of their unique Taiwan style hip hop. It was the first time I had seen Achino and Yobo playing the suona together.

The White Eyes (白目樂隊) were winners of the Hohaiyan Music Festival a few years ago. They have since gone on to bigger things. At the end of their set they invited the crowd onto the stage. They enjoyed a few minutes of dancing and fun.

The members of the crowd weren’t the only ones to share the stage with the bands though. Several bands invited members of No Nukes on stage during their sets. They danced and displayed their signs ensuring that everyone in the crowd knew about the fact that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was under construction not far away.

The Hohaiyan Music Festival continues until Sunday 10 July with bands including Matzka, Sodagreen, Cheer Chen to play. Entry is free but expect huge crowds if you go on the weekend. For more information about the festival visit www.2011hohaiyan.tw.

*More photos in the Hohaiyan Music Festival set at flickr.

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Members of the Atayal community of Hagay (哈凱部落) protested outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei today. They called on the government to provide permanent housing to replace the temporary housing they have been living in for ten years. They also called on the government to take responsibility for the impacts of the construction of the Baling Dam in the catchment of the Shimen Reservoir.

The Hagay community originally lived in a remote location in Fuxing Township of Taoyuan County (桃園縣復興鄉). About twenty years ago the community decided to move to a new location near the Baling Bridge (巴陵橋) on the Northern Cross Island Highway to make it easier for the children to get to school.

The construction of a check dam to control sediment at Baling and the impacts of Typhoon Herb in 1996 and Typhoon Aere in 2004 washed away the community’s land. They were forced to move into temporary housing. In the photo above Dai Li-juan (戴禮娟) is talking about the difficulties families face in the temporary housing which they have had to live in for more than ten years.

The community presented a letter of appeal to a representative of the Executive Yuan. They called on the central government to provide them with permanent housing and to take responsibility for the damage to their land and the ecology of the river caused by the construction of the Baling Dam.

The experience of the Hagay community also raises broader concerns about the impacts of engineering works and construction of dams in the Shimen Reservoir catchment area. Eight major check dams have been constructed in the catchment of the Shimen Reservoir in an attempt to reduce sediment flows into the reservoir. The Baling Dam was destroyed by Typhoon Wipha in 2007.

The photo above shows the Yufeng Dam in July 2010 at Marqwang which is further upstream from Baling. The dam is already filled with sediment so it serves no useful function except to harm the ecology of the river. I have only been making observations in the area for about a year but residents of the area tell of how the stream was much deeper and full of fish before the dam was constructed.

The government spends billions of dollars on engineering works in an attempt to maintain the quality of water in the Shimen Reservoir, but the effectiveness of the works is questionable. The case of the Hagay community shows the direct effects of these works on people living in the catchment area. If the construction of the Gaotai and Bilin dams goes ahead then the impacts on the Atayal communities in the area will be of an even greater magnitude.

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After travelling through central and southern Taiwan the next part of John Seed’s trip spent a few days in Jianshi Township of Hsinchu County. The photo above shows the Atayal artist Yawi. He has a studio up in the mountains and he kindly showed us around. His artworks have been purchased by the former Vice President Annette Lu and the current First Lady Chow Mei-ching.

We also went to see the area where ginger is being cultivated in Tianshui. This is another important local environmental issue. The ginger growing is done by outsiders who come in and rent or buy the land, usually via dubious legal methods. The cultivation is being done on slopes which are steeper than the legal limit. The extensive clearing and disturbance of the soil creates a significant risk of a landslide. The growers exploit the land for short term profits while the local residents have to live with the effects of environmental degradation and risk of landslides.

The peach trees growing on terraced land next to the ginger field provide quite a contrast in cultivation methods. Terraced slopes like this are a quite stable and a sustainable form of farming. In my observations in various parts of Taiwan indigenous people usually farm in ways that maintain the integrity of the landscape. It is often outsiders that are responsible for unsustainable land use practices.

The main event during this part of the visit was to participate in an Anti-Dam Concert at the Jianshi Township Activity Centre on Sunday 3 April. I have briefly mentioned before on this blog about plans for the construction of two dams in Jianshi Township. The government is continuing to conduct investigations into the construction of the dams and it is a major concern for the residents of the area. The concert was held to bring together people from the different communities in the area to help them unite in opposition to the dam. There was some great singing and dancing by several groups along with several speeches about the dam issue.

The Bilin Dam (比鄰水庫) is planned to be built in the front mountain area of Jianshi while the Gaotai Dam (高台水庫) is planned to be built at Yufeng (Marqwang) in the rear mountain area of Jianshi. There is also a plan to construct a tunnel to divert water from the Gaotai Dam to the Bilin Dam. Both dams would have massive impacts on the environment and force the relocation of many local residents. As the majority of residents in the area are Atayal people the planned dams would also severely harm precious cultural heritage.

John Seed spoke at the concert telling of his experience with the campaign against the Franklin River Dam in Australia in the 1980s. He also sang the song “We Are Here for the River” and showed a short video from the campaign against the Franklin. This campaign was ultimately successful in stopping the dam. The video also showed Bob Brown who is now a senator and leader of the Australian Greens. Brown visited Taiwan in 1996 to take part in the campaign against a dam in Meinong, another successful campaign.

Civil Media have compiled an excellent video report of the Jianshi Anti-Dam Concert: Part 1 and Part 2. If you can read Chinese then POTS (破報) has an article on the concert and dam issue. There is a Facebook group that posts regular updates about the issue.

After the concert was over we drove up to Smangus. The next day we went on a hike to the Yaya Qparung (grove of ancient cypress trees). The photo above shows Lahuy and John at the start of the hike with peach trees in full blossom behind them.

This was the third time I have hiked to the ancient trees. Each time I have learnt and discovered many new things. The first three kilometres of the trail is an area that used to be cultivated by the people of Smangus and there are still many signs of this previous land use. Lahuy and Kevan, a Ph.D. student staying in Smangus, have shown me many of these and also told some of the stories related to the area.

The ancient trees are an amazing sight and it was great to spend some time sitting around marvelling at them. It is incredible to think they have grown there for more than 2,500 years.

After visiting Smangus we travelled to Marqwang. We spent some time talking with the local pastor Sangas about the plans for the dam. He said it is unlikely that the decision to build the dam will be made this year because of the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections. If the government wants to proceed with the construction of the dams it will most likely be announced next year after the elections. The interim period is an opportunity for the people of Jianshi to continue to argue against the dam and ensure that their voices are heard by the government.

• John Seed in Taiwan
• Hagay community protests against impacts of Baling Dam
• Smangus documentary to screen on PTS
• Smangus and the tree stump
• Approaching storms and millet harvest in Smangus

I have just spent ten days accompanying John Seed on a trip around Taiwan. John is an environmentalist from Australia well known for his efforts protecting rainforests around the world and also as a philosopher of Deep Ecology. I met John at the Taoyuan Airport on the morning of 28 March. We then took the high speed train to Kaohsiung where we met Dr Lin Yih-ren who arranged John’s visit to Taiwan.

After lunch in Kaohsiung we went to visit the Qimei Community University and then went on a tour around the Meinong area. By the time night fell we were high in the mountains of Pingtung County staying at the Rukai village of Wutai. The photo at the top of this post shows Paiwan artist E-tan presenting one of his works to John. We met E-tan at the Autumn Moon Cafe (秋月e店) just above the town of Sandimen. The cafe is an amazing spot and is filled with great artworks. 

The next morning we went on a tour of Wutai village. The beautifully decorated stone buildings that fill the village are quite amazing. The church is also a very impressive building. Although many aboriginal communities go outside to raise funds to build a church, this church was built only using the resources of the community.

Driving out of Wutai we were able to see the deep scars that Typhoon Morakot had left on the landscape. There were still major roadworks going on in some places along the road. During this part of the trip we spent time in Gaoshu learning about the post-typhoon reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. John also gave a talk at the community university in Qimei (旗美社區大學). John has written an account of the first three days of the trip (pdf file) with photos by me.

On 31 March there was an eco-cultural night at Providence University. The evening featured performances by members of Rukai, Bunun, Seediq and Atayal communities that have close links with Providence University. The Xiao Rukai Band (小魯凱樂團 Drekai) put on an entertaining performance. They are very talented performers who combine music with stories about their experience of being aboriginal and the impacts of Typhoon Morakot on their communities.

The next day we travelled to the Bunun community of Kalibuan in Nantou County which I had also visited a few weeks earlier. In the evening we drove up to Dongpu to enjoy a bath in the hot springs. I had visited this town eleven years ago when it was still recovering from the effects of the 921 earthquake. This time the local businesses also appeared to be struggling in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot. After dinner we saw some local Bunun people put on a show for the tourists in the foyer of the hotel.

The next part of John’s visit was to the Jianshi Township in Hsinchu County. John spoke at an Anti-Dam Concert in Jianshi and we then travelled to Smangus and Marqwang. I will write more details about this in a separate post.

The final place on the itinerary was Hongshi Buddhist College (佛教弘誓學院) in Taoyuan. John gave a talk about Deep Ecology and also spoke about some of his personal experiences practicing Buddhism. During several of his talks in Taiwan John mentioned that Arne Naess, the founder of Deep Ecology, defined Deep Ecology as “asking deeper questions.” There were some great questions at Hongshi College. Many thanks to Venerable Chao Hwei for hosting John’s talk.

John is still in Taiwan with the next part of his visit hosted by the Society of Wilderness (荒野保護協會). He is conducting a “Council of All Beings” workshop and then giving the keynote speech at the Environment NGOs Conference in Taipei on Sunday.

*More photos can be found in the John Seed in Taiwan set at flickr.

• John Seed in Jianshi and Smangus
• Hagay community protests against impacts of Baling Dam
• Tour de Taiwan in Taipei County
• Tour de Taiwan final stage
• Links 26 November 2007

Ever since the nuclear catastrophe began in Japan, I was just waiting for somebody to step forward with the argument ‘but given all the environmental problems caused by fossil fuels, isn’t nuclear energy the lesser of two evils?” I didn’t have to wait long, as the Taipei Times’ editorial repeated this tired and old propaganda of the nuclear energy industry (“The irrational fear of invisible agents,” Mar. 22, page 8). While overall, nuclear energy may be the lesser of two evils, it is still an evil, capable of disseminating radiation and thereby increasing cancer rates considerably in affected populations. Worse, it leaves us with thousands of tons of the most toxic and dangerous waste for hundreds of thousands of years. Who in his or her right mind would place such a burden of responsibility on future generations who have no benefit from our wasteful ways?

However, what I most despise is the insinuation that renewable energies cannot in the foreseeable future provide for our global energy needs. This argument is repeated endlessly by both the oil and nuclear industry, not because it is true, but because, in the words of the world-renowned climate scientist Stephen Schneider, they use “every political argument, including lying and deceit and threats of how our economy will collapse, any scare they can use to try to prevent a loss of market share. So in order to make them rich, they are perfectly willing to take the risk for the rest of the planet about its long-term sustainability.”

So how do we achieve long-term sustainability? Of course through the massive investment into truly renewable and sustainable energy sources. For example, the report ‘Energy Saving Measures for Taiwan’s Built Environment’ details how already available technologies and strategies can improve the energy efficiency of existing and new buildings in Taiwan by at least 30 percent (“Nature has answers to problems,” Dec. 13, 2009, page 8). So why did we not use all the money that was wasted on the fourth nuclear power plant in Taiwan to make Taiwan’s buildings more energy-efficient, thereby more than negating the need for another nuclear power plant? Even though that would be the reasonable and sustainable thing to do, it would not make Taipower any money, that’s why.

In the excellent movie “The 11th Hour”, an ex-CIA director makes the argument that, because there was the political will, it took the United States less than four years to mobilize its army during World War II, completely revamp its industry from producing cars to tanks, defeat Germany and Japan, and demobilize again. I like to show my students a diagram which shows that we only need to capture less than one thousands of all the solar energy reaching the earth to provide for all of our energy needs. We do not have a shortage of renewable energy, but a shortage of political will, because nobody in his right mind can tell me that we could not, if we really wanted to, revamp the entire world economy in one to two decades to run on solar, geothermal and tidal energy, the three truly long-term sustainable energy sources (mind you, nuclear is not sustainable as nuclear fuel will be depleted in a few decades).

Do we not have the ingenuity and willpower to capture that one thousand of solar energy so that all future generations can enjoy a liveable planet? It might cost a little more, but what is the alternative? A planet polluted for centuries by fossil fuel waste and for millennia by nuclear waste, with temperatures soaring, oceans acidifying and one environmental and energy crisis chasing the next? Truly renewable energies are the only solution that any responsible parent would wish for his or her child.

Denmark, a country with very little sunshine, is now well on its way to provide 20% of its electricity with renewable energy. I am sure once Denmark reaches 50% in the next decade or so, we will still hear the argument that renewable energy is “certainly not the solution” from the polluting energies lobby. The only reason we are not embracing this future spearheaded by countries like Denmark is because we have been dumbed down by the relentless propaganda of the polluting energies lobby that has much more money and media at its disposal to protect its market share than those who are advocating for a truly sustainable world.

Bruno Walther is a Research Fellow at the Endemic Species Research Institute (TESRI) and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Taipei Medical University.

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Taiwan’s Fourth Nuclear Power Plant under construction in August 2009 with Fulong Beach in the foreground.

I had a letter in the Taipei Times today on the subject of nuclear power. It argues that the high cost and long lead times of nuclear power projects defers investment in cleaner and safer forms of electricity generation. The text of the letter is below followed by details about anti-nuclear protests in Taipei.

Nuclear power is again in the spotlight following a serious nuclear incident in Japan triggered by last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami. This has forced people in Taiwan and around the world to reconsider the risks of nuclear power plants.

Advocates of nuclear power frequently downplay these risks, while those who oppose nuclear power seek to emphasize them.

Instead of focusing on risk, I would like to present an argument against nuclear power based on financial considerations.

Construction of Taiwan’s Fourth Nuclear Power Plant began in 1997 and it was expected to begin operations in 2009. However, it has been delayed a number of times and is now expected to begin operating in 2013.

Several hundred billion New Taiwan dollars have been invested in the plant, which has yet to generate a single watt of electricity. What if that same amount of money had been invested in renewable energy projects beginning from 1997?

First, these projects would have begun to generate power in a much shorter time frame. Planning and construction of a wind or solar power plant should take no more than two years, compared with more than a decade for nuclear power. In the time frame of more than a decade Taiwan could have developed renewable energy capacity that would make a significant contribution to the nation’s energy needs.

Second, the development of wind and solar power plants would have stimulated the development of industry in Taiwan that could have manufactured these technologies for export. While these industries have developed in Taiwan in recent years, Taiwan could have become a world leader if it had promoted these industries earlier.

The key point is that nuclear power is a bad investment. Everyone would be better off if the money was invested elsewhere. This would avoid the risks associated with a nuclear accident. It would also spur the development [of] alternatives that are inherently safer.

* * * * *

Anti-nuclear activists protested outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday. They called on the government to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao. The Taipei Times has more details. There will be another anti-nuclear protest in Taipei on Sunday 20 March 2011. Meet at 1:30pm at the corner of Xinyi Road and Shaoxing South Street. More information here (中文).

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Population is a sensitive topic and it is unfortunately used by some people to promote racist and anti-immigrant agendas. It is a topic that needs to be discussed in a sensitive and compassionate manner. Limiting population growth is a key to reducing the most adverse effects of overshoot. Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute in a recent article about the impending food crisis said, “On the demand side, we need to accelerate the shift to smaller families.” In coming decades, as the impacts of resource shortages and pollution become more severe, small families in Taiwan may be viewed more positively.

The full text of my letter in the Taipei Times is below.

A recent editorial about Taiwan’s low birth rate (“Rabbits and reproduction,” Feb. 14, page 8 ) claimed that the consequences of Taiwan’s declining birth rate are “entirely negative.”

There is no doubt that Taiwan’s low birth rate will have significant social and economic impacts in the next few decades. The burden of caring for an aged population will be significant.

However, the negative impacts of a declining birth rate need to be considered in comparison with the costs and impacts of population growth.

Increasing population leads to increasing demand for resources. At both the scale of Taiwan as a nation and the Earth as a whole it is clear that increasing demand for resources is causing serious harm to ecological systems.

The editorial is correct in identifying people’s anxiety about the future as a reason why they are reluctant to make the long-term commitment to children. However, these anxieties include the spectres of climate change, peak oil and loss of biodiversity. Having more children won’t make these problems go away, but would actually exacerbate them.

Neither Taiwan nor the world can go on increasing its population indefinitely. Stabilizing or reducing the population in the long term is necessary to ensure that all people have adequate food, water and other resources for a happy and healthy life.

It is time for a more sensible debate about population based on recognition of ecological limits. The endless pursuit of growth will only hasten climate change and resource depletion, significantly harming the welfare of all people on Earth. The only sensible and sustainable long-term policy is one that recognizes the need to -stabilize -population and achieve ecological balance.

I am not advocating that people should stop having children. I am just saying that it would be best for couples to only have one or two children. There should also be more respect and support given to those people who choose not to have children.

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Pan told the Taipei Times by telephone that the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) had invited 20 bloggers on a trip to visit a petrochemical plant in Kaohsiung and an electronic appliance plant nearby.

“The trip was totally free for participants. They received free meals and a NT$5,000 cash award,” Pan said.

“The NT$5,000 for each participating blogger alone costs NT$100,000 of taxpayers’ money and this doesn’t include the cost of hiring a marketing firm to arrange the trip and other costs of the trip,” Pan said.

Pan Han-shen further describes the practice as greenwashing. It is part of efforts by the government and industry to manufacture public support for the expansion of the petrochemical industry, in particular the proposed Kuokuang petrochemical plant on the coast of Changhua County. Michael Turton has more on the issue with links to some of the posts by bloggers who visited the petrochemical plant.

This event has occured while controversy is raging in Taiwan over the use of “embedded marketing”, which involves television stations and newspapers of disguising paid for promotions as news or normal programming. The National Communication Commission took ERA TV’s variety channel off the air last month for its repeated use of embedded marketing.

While the government has decried the pernicious practice and promised to take action to eradicate it, it now seems to have taken on new forms by shifting into the blogosphere. Of even greater concern is that the practice is not just being used by the government and corporations in Taiwan, but China is also using it to manipulate Taiwan’s media. Michael Turton summarises the impacts succinctly by saying,

This means that outside the Green press the public in Taiwan is getting two types of news about China: news from self-censored center-right mainstream press organizations, and news from totally pro-China propaganda houses.

The paradox of Taiwan’s media is that although it is free is suffers from being highly partisan and polarised. The practice of embedded marketing only further exacerbates the problem by replacing critical reporting with puff pieces. The blogosphere provides an important alternative space for a variety of opinions to be expressed. However, if this space is also discredited then Taiwan’s democracy can only continue to degenerate.

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Thousands of people* marched through Taipei in a protest against the expansion of the petrochemical industry. They shouted “Oppose Kuokuang, save Taiwan!” (反國光，救台灣) as they marched. This was in reference to the Kuokuang Petrochemical Plant which is slated to be built off the coast of Changhua County.

Large contigents travelled to Taipei from Changhua and Yunlin counties to join the protest. Many of them were mobilised by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The photo above shows Liu Chien Kuo (劉建國), a DPP legislator from Yunlin County, Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), a DPP legislator, and Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬), Yunlin County Commissioner, leading a section of the march.

A group of young people dressed as Na’vi, characters from the movie Avatar, caught the attention of the media at the start of the march. There was active participation by young people from various groups in the march.

After the marchers arrived at Ketagalan Boulevard they took seats for speeches. Most of the speeches were in Hoklo Taiwanese so I can’t report on exactly what was said. However, I think the protest reflects a strong grassroots opposition to the petrochemical industry.

Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) took to the stage to sing their song “Civil Revolt” (官逼民反). They altered some of the lyrics especially for the occassion.

While the protest was on Ketagalan Boulevard a laser was used to project slogans onto the outside of the Presidential Office. I was unable to get a clear photo of it though (you can see it in the YouTube video linked to below). Although the people of Yunlin and Changhua are not participating in the elections on 27 November the protest succeeded in putting pressure on the government to reconsider the plans for new petrochemical plants.

Links

• Anti-petrochemical rally demands suspension of Kuokuang project – Focus Taiwan
• 反石化萬人遊行 促石化政策轉彎 – PTS News report on YouTube
• Anti-petrochemical protest in Taipei – my photos on Demotix
• Say No To Petrochemicals Demonstration – Craig Ferguson’s photos on Demotix
• 11/13 protest against petrochemical industry – photoset at flickr

*The Apple Daily reported 5,000 people. The organisers said “nearly 10,000″.

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