[新聞] 台灣反對石化工廠聲浪增長(譯自BBC標題)

[forresort ( )]

來源網址：http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12617084

Opposition to Taiwanese chemical plant grows

By Cindy Sui BBC News, Dacheng Wetland, Taiwan



Shallow pools of water glisten softly as egrets fly overhead in Taiwan's

largest wetland. The low tide exposes oyster shells strung up in neat rows.


Hsieh Shu, a fourth-generation oyster farmer, tends to them.


"My parents, grandparents and great grandparents were all oyster farmers, and

now my kids also work in this field.


"We've been doing this for more than 100 years," Hsieh said.


This area in western Taiwan's Changhua County will look and function very

differently if Taiwan's government allows state-owned oil refiner CPC

Corporation to build a $20bn petrochemical plant here.


Plans for the 2,000-hectare plant include a 300,000 barrel-a-day refinery,

factories that produce 25 types of chemical products, and a plant that will

significantly boost Taiwan's capacity to produce ethylene.


Ethylene is a lucrative and much sought-after petrochemical product used in

construction materials, textiles and plastic and film products.


First proposed in 2006, with the current site selected in 2008, the Kuokuang

project has been stalled for four years because of objections from farmers,

local residents and environmentalists.


It has seen the strongest public opposition to an industrial project in Taiwan

in years.


Objections have intensified recently as stakeholders step up efforts to win

government approval.


Ecosystem fears


Opponents say it will harm the precious eco-system, and pollute the air and

water in an area that provides much of the country's fish and farm products.


Environmentalists say the oil tankers and pollution will also damage the

habitat of the already endangered Taiwanese white dolphins, which live in the

waters off the wetland and number only about 100.


The project could also affect the health of local residents and wipe out

traditional farming industries, critics argue.


"If Kuokuang is built, we'll be unemployed and even our kids won't have jobs,

so I'm definitely against it," Hsieh Shu said.


However, backers of the project say it is needed to prevent a monopoly by

Taiwan's other oil refiner, the private Formosa Petrochemical Corporation,

which currently has a much bigger production capacity than CPC.


At least 7,000 jobs will be created, they say.


Competitiveness


More importantly, according to the project's backers, it will boost Taiwan's

competitiveness in the key petrochemical industry, avoid a reliance on imports

and help Taiwan's economy through exports.


"We can't just shut our doors and look within," said Su-chen Chen,

a spokeswoman for Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology.


"In Asia, other countries including South Korea, Japan and Singapore are all

developing their petrochemical industries and their production capacities are

either greater than ours or will be greater," she said.


The company was set up by the investors which, besides CPC Corporation, include

several Taiwanese petrochemical companies and major firms.


There is much at stake, according to the company and pro-industry,

pro-development advocates.


The Asia-Pacific region consumes more than a third of worldwide demand for

ethylene and produces about that much.


Although Taiwan is one of Asia's main petrochemical production bases, its

annual ethylene capacity is below that of both Japan and South Korea.


This year even its smaller neighbour Singapore will surpass it when it raises

production to 4.6 million tons, according to government statistics.


"Many countries are moving toward this trend of increasing their ethylene

production capacity," Su-chen Chen said.


The new plant will boost Taiwan's ethylene production capacity by 22% to 5.4

million tonnes a year.


Taiwan's Chinese neighbour is a huge consumer of ethylene and Taiwan could

benefit from this if it boosts its own production.


"Taiwan is a small island. We cannot survive without exports," Su-chen Chen

said.


"And as Taiwan's economy develops, its ethylene demands will rise."


She added that it was currently not cost-effective to develop alternative

sources, "Green energy is not practical," she says.


"Its costs are very high and it's not translating into economic benefits yet.

Oil is still cheapest."


To get the green light, the company has reduced the scale of the project and

offered to use cleaner natural gas to power the plant.


Growth v environment


But residents and environmentalists say the project will still cause

irreparable and costly damage to the environment and people.


They fear the company will expand and renege on its damage-control promises

once the plant is built.


Several protests have been held by farmers and environmentalists.


There is a growing conflict in Taiwan between those who believe that economic

development is of supreme importance and those who question the health and

environmental consequences of such economic development.


The government has requested an environmental impact assessment and conducted

several meetings with the company, but has not yet reached a decision.


Since coming to office in 2008, President Ma Ying-jeou has voiced support for

sustainable development - ordering bikeways to be built, encouraging electric

car production and stressing green energy as a key sector to develop.


However, it is unclear whether he would reject Taiwan's decades-long practice

of putting economic development ahead of environmental protection.


Wetlands are believed to be the most diverse of all ecosystems - rich in plant

and animal life.


Around the Dacheng Wetland area, the tens of thousands of people who depend on

it for a living or who live nearby say they can survive on their current jobs

and do not need more development in an area already known as Taiwan's

industrialised western corridor.


"I can barely stand the rotten smell from a factory near my home," said

Hsu Li-yi, a mother of a small child.


"I'm already worried about my daughter's health. We don't need another

industrial plant, we have got enough."

--


我在ptt找到這個與環境有關的版，

台灣的環境新聞登上BBC首頁，http://img855.imageshack.us/f/bbc.jpg/

希望更多人能關注保護大城溼地的議題！


近日翻譯成中文。

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推 Waitingchen:剛剛才在BBC看到，感謝原po快手轉錄 ^^
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- <

作者: forresort (　) 看板: Ecophilia
標題: Re: [新聞] 台灣反對石化工廠聲浪增長(譯自BBC標題)
時間: Fri Mar  4 12:26:16 2011


這片台灣最大的溼地，水灘閃動陽光，白鷺鷥盤旋飛翔。退潮時，可見到蚵架成列排開。

　
　　60餘歲的蚵農，謝素，維護這塊蚵田。她說：「我父親、祖父、曾祖父都是蚵農，我
　
小孩也是。」「我們經營蚵田已有百年以上了。」
　
　
　　然而，若政府通過台灣中油的2百億國光石化建案，大城溼地將截然改觀。國光石化建

案，佔地2千公頃，包含日產30萬桶石油的精煉廠、生產25種化學產品的工廠、以及一座能

夠大力為台灣提升乙烯產能的工廠。
　
　
　　乙烯是一種價值高且需求大的石化產品，用於建材、織物、塑膠及薄膜產品。
　
　
　　國光石化建案於2006年首度提議，2008年選定大城溼地為廠址，但由於蚵農、當地
　
居民及環保人士反對，此案又延宕了4年。這是台灣近年來引發最強烈社會反彈的工業計
　
畫。近日隨著利害關係人鼓吹政府通過建案，反對聲浪再增。
　
　
生態悲歌
　
　
　　反對人士表示，此區是縣內大多數農漁產品的產地，但國光石化將危害珍貴的生態系
　
統，帶來空氣污染與水污染。
　
　
　　環保人士指出，油槽及污染將破壞瀕臨絕種台灣白海豚棲息地。台灣白海豚出沒於濕
　
地外的水域，數量僅約一百隻。
　
　
　　批評者認為，國光石化會影響居民健康，傳統農業也將因此而蕩然無存。
　
　
　　謝素說：「國光石化要是蓋了，我們就沒工作了，連我們的孩子也沒工作。我徹底反

對！」
　
　
　　不過，國光石化支持者以為，必須避免台塑石化的壟斷，台塑石化目前產能大幅超越
　
台灣中油。支持者還說，國光石化將創造至少7千個工作機會。
　
　
競爭
　
　
　　根據支持者說法，國光石化更重要之處，在於提升台灣石化產業競爭力，免於進口依
　
賴，有助出口經濟。國光石化發言人說：「不能只是閉關自守。」「亞洲其他國家如南韓
　
、日本、新加坡皆發展石化產業，有的產能已超越台灣，有的即將超越。」成立國光石化
　
的投資客，除了台灣中油，亦包括數個石化公司及大企業在內。國光石化及石化業支持者
　
表示，成敗就在一瞬間。
　
　
　　亞太區域產出並消耗了全世界1/3以上的乙烯，儘管台灣身為亞洲石化重鎮之一，乙
　
烯年產量卻低於日本及南韓。今年，由政府統計觀之，就連小國新加坡都將超越台灣產量
　
，達到460萬噸。
　
　
　　國光石化發言人：「許多國家正孜孜矻矻，搭上增產乙烯的趨勢。」新建國光石化廠
　
可提升22%乙烯產能，一年可生產540萬噸。
　
　
　　中國大量需用乙烯，若台灣提升乙烯產能，將可從中獲利。國光石化發言人說：「台
　
灣只是小島國，沒有出口就活不下去。如果台灣經濟有所發展，也會增加乙烯需求。」
　
她說，目前發展替代能源，不符成本效益。「綠能不切實際。高昂成本卻無法轉換為經濟
　
利益。還是石油划算。」
　
　
　　為使建案通過，國光石化縮減了原計畫規模，並表示燃料會採用較乾淨的天然氣。
　
　
經濟成長 VS. 環境保護
　
　
　　但居民及環保人士認為，國光石化仍會對環境與人民造成無法彌補的災害。他們憂心
　
，一旦工廠建成，廠方會繼續擴建，不遵守危害控管的承諾。
　
　
　　農民及環保人士發起好幾場抗議活動。
　　
　
　　在台灣，經濟發展至上，環境保護優先，二者之間的爭議，愈演愈烈。
　
　
　　政府做了環評，也與台灣中油舉辦了數場公聽會，但迄今仍無定論。
　　
　
　　總統馬英九自2008年上任以來，疾聲呼籲永續發展：興建自行車道，鼓勵生產電動車

，並強調綠能為發展要點。但他是否會屏棄長久以來台灣經濟發展重於環境保護的作為，

就不得而知了。
　
　
　　溼地在生態系統之中最具多樣性，動植物豐富。大城溼地周圍，萬餘名依溼地為生或
　
居於溼地附近的民眾表示，他們靠著現有的工作就能活得好好的，不需要再有什麼工業發
　
展。
　
　
　　育有一名孩童的徐媽媽說：「我受不了附近工廠的臭味。我擔心女兒的健康，我們不

需要再一座工廠，工廠已經夠多了。」

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