If Blue and White threaten to amend the air pollution law, Taipower’s labor unions will surround the Legislative Yuan and fight to the end.

Taipower's labor union stated that it opposes the amendment of the air pollution law. (Provided by Taipower Labor Union)

[Reporter Lin Jinghua/Reporting from Taipei] On the 10th, the Kuomintang members of the Legislative Yuan and the People's Party proposed to amend Articles 28 and 30 of the Air Pollution Law. The Taipower Labor Union issued a strong statement on the 12th. The amendment involves content related to the operation of coal-fired power plants and attempts to set an unreasonable legal deadline (2028 By the end of the year), the Taichung Power Plant’s coal-fired units will be forced to withdraw from operation, which will directly affect the stable power supply in the region, impact energy resilience, and cause thousands of Taichung Power Plant employees to be transferred out of Taichung. Taipower’s union expressed its most solemn protest and did not rule out launching a protest and surrounding the Legislative Yuan.

The Legislative Yuan negotiated the draft amendment to the Air Pollution Control Act on the 10th. Member Luo Tingwei and others put forward a temporary motion to amend Articles 28 and 30 of the Air Pollution Act, and the Taiwan People's Party caucus made a temporary motion to propose amendments to Article 30 of the Air Pollution Act. In addition to previous objections from industrial and commercial groups, the Ministry of Economic Affairs warned again on the 12th that four major risks will arise to power supply.

Taipower's labor union also stated today that Taipower's grassroots employees endured high temperatures and noise on the front lines and devoted countless efforts to the country's economic development and stable power supply. In the past ten years, air pollution emissions from Taichung Power Plant have been reduced by more than 30,000 tons, a reduction rate of 80%. According to the results of a survey commissioned by scholars commissioned by the Ministry of Environment, the impact of the electric power industry on Taichung City's local average annual PM2.5 concentration is only 0.9%, which is much lower than emissions from vehicle dust, the steel industry, and various types of traffic.

Taipower's labor union emphasized that grassroots employees worked day and night to implement pollution prevention and coal reduction goals, only for politicians to ignore and manipulate scientific data. This kind of political manipulation that wipes out the hard work of Taipower employees is absolutely unacceptable to the union.

If the Taichung power plant is forced to shut down, the north of central China will be highly dependent on cross-regional support from southern power. It is estimated that the transmission power of Southern Power Transmission will surge to 6.12 million kilowatts, seriously exceeding the 4.5 million kilowatt capacity limit of the transmission line. Once an accident occurs, the central region may face a voltage collapse, resulting in a crisis of large-scale power outages. At the same time, Taichung Power Plant employees will be forced to transfer to other power plants for services, affecting Anju's rights and interests.

The Taipower Labor Union strongly calls on all political parties in the Legislative Yuan to step back from the brink and immediately stop the unreasonable amendments to the air pollution law until the new gas-fired power generation unit is completed. Taipower's labor union hopes for better air quality, but also firmly defends workers' rights and the country's stable power supply.

Taipower's labor union even said that if the Legislative Yuan insists on forcibly passing the law amendment, it will not rule out launching the most intense protest action to fight to the end against politicians who have no regard for the life and death of grassroots.