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Editorial: Price hike not nearly enough

While Taipower's raising of electricity tariffs on Saturday should be commended, it is going to take more than a tiny increase in rates to convince people to curb their wasteful ways.

The prices of utilities, and gasoline in particular, in Taiwan have long been undervalued, with water, gas and electricity all costing far less than they should. This was proven by the fact that the recent hike in electricity rates was the first in 23 years.

Such a situation is ridiculous in a developed country like Taiwan, but this stems from the fact that utilities firms are state-run entities, whose prices do not necessarily need to reflect market prices. The government should remedy this situation urgently but it is, of course, unwilling to do so as raising utility prices is a surefire vote loser.

But if countries like Indonesia can increase fuel prices to more accurately reflect market prices, then what is stopping our government from doing so? Only when the public realizes how precious natural resources are will they begin to practice conservation and cut wasteful consumption.

People in this nation and other developed countries around the world need to wake up to reality. The world's resources, especially fossil fuels, are getting scarcer and competition for them is becoming fiercer: This is the main factor behind the skyrocketing price of crude oil.

The government should be, and hopefully is, formulating contingency plans to help the nation cope when oil becomes prohibitively expensive, as it will inevitably become within the next few decades. Efficient use of energy and resources is a starting point, and the industrial sector is an area where this would have a big effect, but a strong government is needed in order to push business leaders into taking such expensive measures.

But it is not all doom and gloom; there are some areas in which Taiwan stands out, such as in the recycling of paper, bottles and cans and the composting of food waste.

However, there are other areas where the Taiwanese should hang their heads in shame. The tendency for shops and large buildings to have open frontages and blast frosty air conditioned air onto the street may be great when you are walking down the street on a hot summer's day, but it is extremely wasteful and should be outlawed.

Another area in which people could do with a reminder is their wasteful use of water. Taiwan's average per capita usage per day is among the world's highest, at 290 liters. This stems from a perception problem: People think that because Taiwan has typhoons and regular flooding, water shortages are an impossibility. One would have thought the serious drought and shortages of 2003 would have helped people to mend their ways, but this doesn't seem to be the case. A serious hike in water prices may be the only way for the government to ram home the conservation message.

More education efforts are needed. Last year the government and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) did their bit by promoting "island wear" shirts. Such clothing encourages businesspeople to dress down in summer and therefore negates the need for them to crank up the office air conditioner. Such efforts need to be repeated regularly. Non-governmental organizations such as the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union also help by educating people on the advantages of things like energy-saving light bulbs and the efficient use of air conditioning.

But a concerted effort needs to made by the government in order to solve a problem that is only going to get worse. A combination of legislation, long-term education programs and possibly sharp rises in utility prices are what is needed to cure the population of its wasteful ways.
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