Gov’t should face up to greenhouse threat: scholar says

The Nobel laureate made the call amid the approach of April 22 Earth Day, observed around the globe to raise awareness of the environment.

Lee said that humankind should think of how to make good use of environmentally friendly energy resources such as wave, wind and solar energy.

Governments around the world should spare no efforts to slow the global warming that some scientists believe result from the greenhouse effect, Lee said. However, he added, no government agencies in Taiwan have been commissioned to deal with the problem.

Asked whether or not a controversial expressway should be built connecting Suao in northeastern Taiwan and Hualien in the east, Lee said future styles of human life and traffic will change as crude oil prices keep growing.

If the proposed expressway is only built to boost tourism in the eastern part of Taiwan, then the government should ignore the idea and try to make efforts to upgrade the existing Suao-Hualien railway, Lee advised.

Meanwhile, Legislator Tien Chiu-chin of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party proposed at a press conference at the Legislative Yuan that the public should take part in a “turn off-the-lights for one hour” campaign, switching lights, air conditioners and electrical equipment off from noon to 1 p.m. April 20.

Tien warned that the problem of global warming is worsening while claiming that Tuvalu — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies the Pacific region — is facing doom because of rising sea levels.

If sea levels rise by six meters, the Taipei basin, where the capital city is located, could be doomed, Tien warned.

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