Breaking News, World News and Taiwan News.

Updated Tuesday, April 22, 2008 0:00 am TWN, The China Post news staff

The Tainan City Government holds a rally on the campus of the National Cheng Kung University with participants wielding fans to help cool down the temperature of the giant earth balloon. Officials also plan to expand the campaign urging motorists to support its anti-idling policy. (CNA)

More Photos (2)

Sponsors
▪	Save 75% for all hotels in Shanghai, Beijing and whole China. Lowest rates for Flights in China.
▪	Get the best deals for Guangzhou Hotels or choose from more than 10,000 hotels in 499 Chinese cities.
▪	Find great real time deals on China Flights. Book flights to China or China domestic flights 24/7.
▪	Buy china wholesale products from reliable chinese wholesalers on DHgate.com!

World Earth Day activities kick off

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Many public office buildings and schools throughout Taiwan will turn off their lights for one hour from noon to 1 p.m. today to mark World Earth Day today and to promote energy conservation. Many public servants at all levels of governments will either take public transportation or ride bicycles to work to help highlight the campaign for safeguarding Mother Earth and to promote conserving resources.

In addition to soliciting support from government agencies, officials at the Energy Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) urged private enterprises, organizations, and the general households to join the campaign. They said the one-hour suspension of electricity consumption will have the same effect of curtailing green house gas emissions as yielded by an equivalent of planting 170,000 trees.

The Taipei 101 Tower, the tallest man-made structure on earth, started last night flashing slogans of “COOL” to urge people to help “cool down the Earth” and “<2°C” to help prevent the constant temperature on earth from rising more than two degrees Celsius.

Liu Ming-long, chairman of the Environmental Wuality Protection Foundation, said the slogans will be shown on the high tower from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. every evening for seven nights. To help reduce the carbon dioxide emission from the signs, the foundation has planted new trees at a forest managed by the National Taiwan University.

Leading enterprises, including the Formosa Plastics Group, the Fubon and Taiwan Mobile Group, Kolin, Vedan, Taishin Bank, NEC, Seiko Epson, and others like Taiwan Power Co., Chunghwa Telecom Co., and China Steel Corp., in which the government retains controlling stakes, will continue their tree-planting campaigns.

Many other organizations will also stage activities in observance of World Earth Day. National Chi Nan University in the central county of Nantou is urging the public to change its diet from meat-based to vegetarian.

In collaboration with the Nantou County government, a documentary entitled “Devour the Earth,” which shows the environmental impact of human activities and meat-based diets on the planet, will be screened 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Three speeches on the impact of global warming, green consumption, and a healthy diet will follow. The activities will end with a vegetarian lunch provided to all participants.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here