For our last day in class, we had the Vice President of Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan, Chung-Yueh Tsai, come in and talk to us about the organization. The organization centers around environmental advocacy as well as education, and emphasizes the importance for Taiwan’s residents to care about their environment and serve as advocates for their island’s pristine nature.

I enjoyed how he not only introduced his organization, but also showed the ways it is and has been historically situated within larger movements. He talked about their organization’s fight against the widespread use of mining, the use and production of nuclear energy, the impact of power plants on rural communities, and the danger the high concentration of oil, as a result of power plants, has on the lives of countless citizens.

I found the incident he shared where a Taiwanese worker who lit a match in his room was severely injured very disturbing. This incident was due to the dormitory’s proximity to an oil plant, and because this increased the oil concentration in the air, the the air ignited and an explosion occurred. But this was not an isolated incident, there have also been a number of gas explosions around Kaohsiung and Pingtung, both areas we visited during our trip to Taiwan, and it’s crazy to think that even after these disastrous events happen, little, if not anything, changes. Even to the extent that the companies deny that there is a problem. Similarly (in the documentary he showed us) although the rural areas where high concentrations of oil and gas disproportionately reside complained of how the plant made it impossible to produce and grow food because it ruined their crops and soil, the companies still had more than enough power to silence their voices. Voices that should be and NEED to be heard. And simply by ignoring them, by refusing to acknowledge the videos of communal water igniting when touched with a lighter, refusing to take and test samples of the community’s surrounding water and soil, and refusing to acknowledge the ways in which they’re implicated in this drastic change. Daily and permanent changes the residents have to face, are forced to face, are dismissed by those who are causing the damage. How convenient.

Another aspect that I think is important to question, that was not necessarily brought up, is why the plant was eventually closed. Was it because of the pressure, the growing resistance to its continued construction? Or was it because the companies and government genuinely cared about the well-being of the residents of the area and acknowledged what they were doing was wrong? Because they saw the ways in which the plant was ruining and stripping away their way of life; slowly, but surely making it impossible to be theoretically and literally, fruitful?

I highly doubt it was the latter. The refusal to acknowledge the plant’s detrimental effects did not come with or prior to the closure, they simply promised to close it down, and that’s what scares me. If the government and companies are not cultivating respect for the land and the lives it touches, they can and will continue to promise to close every power plant in 25 years. But there will continue to be plants. So, what’s really changing?

Our speaker also shared a short image of a couple who is clearly consuming a lot- the picture is littered with images of wrapped presents, the man smoking, fish in a suitcase and aerosol cans- with the wife asking who is going to pay for of it. Ironically, the husband answers “the will,” while pointing to their child, while a disgruntled Earth seems to be disapprovingly looking at the two. Not only is this highly controversial in the US, with many large political figures denying climate change and therefore elongating the response to these very serious problems, but it’s a problem our whole world has to face. Like the cartoon he showed in class, this denial is only pushing the burden onto our successive generations, who will have even more to deal with as the effects of our overconsumption and large use of finite resources, among other things, continues to accumulate.

In short, I think all these reasons and considerations are what makes this organization so great. Proudly recognized as a non-governmental organization, they’re taking these issues to the public and fighting for them. The pictures of his organization rallying together and getting emotional, screaming while during a publicized talk, and throwing things while marching, reminded me of how pertinent this issue is to so many people. How emotional this all is and why it’s important to educate people about the effects of the development on the land are, so that they can advocate and fight for themselves. I really enjoyed this lecture and I thought it was a nice change of pace for our class. I think that the organization is doing wonderful things.