20191026, Article, Taichung

[Jasmine0316]

網站 http://www.happyforum.org/ 歡迎超連結並轉寄網址
論壇 http://www.happyforum.org/happy/ 歡迎至論壇討論

歡迎加入Taichung Happy English Club粉絲團



Time：第 486 會，2019 年 10 月 26 日（週六）下午2:30~5:30
Place：
http://www.happyforum.org/happy/viewtopic.php?t=15

Agenda
14:30~15:30 Session One
15:30~15:50 Speech Session
15:50~16:00 Change Group and then Break Time
16:00~17:15 Session Two
17:15~17:30 Happy Time

Host: MacGyver
Assistant Host:

Topic::
The Largest Scale Amendments to Taiwan's Air Pollution Control Act Since 2002
Source:
https://e-info.org.tw/node/212697

Please Note:
Venue:台中市南屯區 大業路182號 Mos Burger二樓
Thanks a lot for your attention.

Questions:

1. How much do you have faith in the newly amended “Air Pollution Control Act” that is going to be in effect? Why?

2. Taichung Power Plant has long been accused as the culprit for the air pollution in Taichung or even in the central Taiwan. Do you agree with such argument? Should nuclear power be extended in its use to further alleviate coal-fired power generation?

3. What forms/sources of air pollutants seem to bother you the most in your daily life? Will you tell your friends to less pollute the air, even if it may cause them some sort of inconvenience?

4. Once the amended Act is in effect, what kind of problems or chanllenges will both the authorities and the public encounter?


例會須知
時間地點須知：
http://www.happyforum.org/happy/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15
協會章程：
http://www.happyforum.org/Association_Principle.htm
各分會章程：
http://www.happyforum.org/Club_Principle.htm
協會會員會費及各分會會員會費及入場費：
http://www.happyforum.org/15.htm
參與例會，請自行列印當週的討論文章，並帶至現場
http://www.happyforum.org/happy/viewforum.php?f=33
參與例會，請勿討論政治/種族/宗教/性，經勸導無效者，不得參加本會任何活動
http://www.happyforum.org/happy/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1766
週六晚餐(Saturday Dinner)
http://www.happyforum.org/happy/viewforum.php?f=76
戶外活動(Club Outing)

[Jasmine0316]

Dear Taichung Happiers,

Sustainability. It’s the consequences of our choices, not our competence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_mCHs79B6c

It is that kind of day. When seas and oceans and corals are veiled by tears. A World Health Organization (WHO) report, published in late 2018, addressed that air pollution is a major health threat leading to about 7 million premature deaths annually. As we all know that air pollution has fatal effects on human health, ecosystem, and the climate, the core issue comes from wondering what is going to happen next. To watch, to inquire. To imagine. Imagine more possibilities. To anticipate. Anticipate more wonders. Meanwhile, in some way, sometimes, even a bucket of ice water hitting us can’t advance our awareness at all. We tell ourselves that it has nothing to do with us, although the knot in our stomachs says differently. Now, close your eyes, please. And, listen! Listen carefully! The nature is making a low repetitive sound of denial, like it’s trying to invent a noise that can competently communicate its feelings about what’s going to happen. American environmentalist Paul Gerard Hawken has made an appropriate comment. "When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: if you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren't optimistic, you haven't got a pulse." So, what can work wonders on our natural environment? What does it mean to make conservation efforts and be caretakers for our planet? Imagine the best/worst air quality you’ve ever experienced, times ten... Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to join our host MacGyver in discovering more cool materials in the enjoyable and unmistakable fragrance of the breeze.

To breathe or not to breathe? That is the question. “Obviously you can't confess all your sins in one go but must separate bottle, paper and plastic confessions.” Questions about air pollution have followed us for years. What if these are only warm-up questions? As reported by WHO, nine out of 10 people universally breathe air containing high levels of pollutants; researchers from the Forum of International Respiratory Societies assert that air pollution potentially affects every organ in the body. In fact, not only our physical health, air pollution is eating up our mental health and morality. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2019 ... killing-us We are now immersing ourselves into the change of seasons. Yes. What smell in the nature grants you the experience of a heavenly moment of heartfelt wellbeing? The saying of the word “Air” should have brought us a big smile. Yet, air pollution is a strange twist—it owns everything around us further than our eyes can see--the sharpness of it stiffens more than doctors’ solutions. Air pollution is a strange twist. Without the darkness, we would never further notice the stars. The stars--the wellbeing. https://www.intechopen.com/books/well-b ... well-being Furthermore, what’s more important for our indoor space than remaining warm and welcoming? Both for living and for working, everyone desires a comfortable place to feel refreshed and rewarding. However, Harvard University study has revealed the relationship between indoor air quality and our cognitive performance, including decision making. https://www.naava.io/editorial/harvard- ... ion-making

There is an edge of impatience in the voice of the climate. Perhaps, the climate doesn’t have the luxury of silence itself. What can we do? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jas5sZv7zyM At the Climate Action Summit 2019, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out “The best science, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, tells us that any temperature rise above 1.5 degrees will lead to major and irreversible damage to the ecosystems that support us. Science tells us that on our current path, we face at least 3-degrees Celsius of global heating by the end of the century.” So, take a look at this picture: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0f/7d/3a ... 2336c0.jpg What do you notice? What do you ponder? What’s happening in this picture? What story is the picture telling? Can you give this picture a creative and constructive caption? Now that there is a glimmer of hope, things appear to be spinning out of control. What had been the environmental systems our health depends on has become unexpectedly unprintable. When climate change goes on, what profound impacts can it make on us? In your mind, what opportunities should we seize? What is a magic wand that can solve all problems? Let’s cultivate the curiosity about warnings and predictions of Climate Change that provoke decisive and decent actions. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32464-9/fulltext Above all, our commitment to environmental sustainability and business social responsibility have once been the reflection of recognition and respect are now colored, compressed, with emergency. Is the world on the verge of becoming an imminent catastrophe? How to unlock our potential and connect all the “dots” to raise public awareness? https://hbr.org/2019/09/what-1000-ceos- ... inequality

The Symphony of Sustainability. “How can you tell the ocean is friendly?” “It waves.” There is a coexistence relationship between humans and nature. They share a vocabulary. Through the ages, through the lifetimes, every other relationship might change into another appearance, but our relationship with nature is absolute and eternal. American essayist, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) thought intensively and believed deeply that “There is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us alright.” The nature world is a mirror—we see ourselves in it; what we are doing to the nature is a mirror—it reflects what we are doing to ourselves and others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRcKPpqeKx4 When the beach is beautiful in a moody, wild way, what does this remind you of? The struggle that we are engaged in is whether humanity can carve a way to coexist with nature. The core of the problem stands on the damaged Ecosystem. Whenever we see this, there is no amusement in our eyes anymore. It’s like, like, in dreams we can’t do the simplest things. Yet, yet, why is that? Please check out this film Honeyland. The film paints a different light on the truth that there’s a price when we don’t accept the nature in a right way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B27ORUHlp6E Understand the beauty of nature--it brings back a flood of sweet memories from the first time we communed with nature. Understand that everything has a consequence. Save nature. Save ourselves. Above all, when art meets environmental reality, our faces open in astonishment, and then relax into a smile. Calling for cultural heritage as a driver for sustainable growth, Professor Christer Gustafsson at Uppsala University, Sweden, endorses Museums to advocate our awareness and moral courage for sustainability. http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record ... &dswid=822

From “The Lotos-Eaters” (by Lord Alfred Tennyson)

They sat them down upon the yellow sand,
Between the sun and moon upon the shore;
And sweet it was to dream of Father-land,
Of child, and wife, and slave; but evermore
Most weary seem'd the sea, weary the oar,
Weary the wandering fields of barren foam.
Then some one said, "We will return no more";
And all at once they sang, "Our island home
Is far beyond the wave; we will no longer roam".

Return to the love for life. Sustainability. It’s the consequences of our choices, not our competence. The most important is the change of our attitude. Somehow, we love this planet with some kind of mad passion. New world technology rubs shoulders with old world authenticity. Peculiarities coexist with priceless varieties. We can’t disconnect ourselves with Nature. Every action is worthwhile and full of purpose. Everything we do has an impact for everything around us. Professor David W. Orr appeals for our affinity for life, “Education that builds on our affinity for life would lead to a kind of awakening of possibilities and potentials that lie dormant and unused in the industrial-utilitarian mind. Therefore the task of education is to help us 'open our souls to love this glorious, luxuriant, animated, planet.' The good news is that our own nature will help us in the process if we let it.” How have we felt, as we’ve looked around the seas? The strange tales in front of us. Home and energy and safety behind us. None of us has to work very hard at imaging how urgently we should make some significant changes. There is no backup plan. No alternative route. No plan B. Not for me. Not for you. Not for any of us. There is no going back for us. Except. Except. We return to love. We return to our affinity for life. In that love for life, in that moment, no dark thing exists. It’s worth a leap of faith. Join us. Thanks!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB-Yxy5BTGQ





With Gratitude,
Jasmine

[Kevin01]

20191026 Gathering