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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Environment
Focus on renewable energy
The government will develop renewable energy and carbon dioxide reduction technology as efforts to decrease the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions, a Council for Economic Planning and Development official said yesterday. The official noted that as Taiwan's carbon dioxide emissions accounts for 1 percent of the world's total, a task force on energy policy has decided to develop renewable energy such as hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power, hydrogen energy and other carbon-dioxide-reduction technologies to do less harm to the environment. Citing a G8 report, the official said climate change will pose the greatest threat to people, as can be evidenced by the fact that the world's 10 hottest years in recent memory occurred after 1991. Bad as it will be, climate change could also represent potential trade opportunities, the official said, citing the G8 report that the global investment in energy-efficiency and energy-saving equipment could reach US$16 trillion over the next 25 years.

■ Society
Thousands to go hungry
Eight thousand people have been invited to take part in the 16th "Hunger 30" activity in Kaohsiung on Aug. 13 as a humanitarian gesture to the less fortunate of the world. Acting Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday thanked World Vision Taiwan for "building a platform through which the nation has been able to show its love of the world." "Hunger 30" will be held at the soccer field of National Sun Yat-sen University. Chen called on the people to go and experience for themselves how it feels to be without food for 30 consecutive hours. "When we realize what it is like to go hungry for longer than a day, when we realize the preciousness of life, then we may be more willing to contribute what we can to the world's humanitarian efforts," he said. World Vision Taiwan opened a photo exhibit at the Kaohsiung Cultural Center yesterday graphically showing relief efforts and children suffering from hunger in India, Ethiopia and other countries.

■ Environment
Baby ocelet doing well
A tiny leopard cat -- a protected animal -- found by a man in central Taiwan in the wake of Typhoon Haitang on July 18, is being well taken care of by the government's special animal protection and preservation center. A veterinarian with the center in Chichi (集集), Nantou County, said when the man discovered the animal, he contacted the center. The baby cat was only about two weeks old. Workers at the center suspect that it might been separated from its mother during the typhoon. The center concluded that it was a leopard cat, also called an ocelot or tiger cat (felis pardalis). The center's staff have been feeding the leopard cat with milk. It has since doubled in size and is very lively but has yet to cut its first tooth. The center will keep feeding it until it is seven or eight months old, when it will be trained to catch prey, before being released into the mountains, he said.

■ Health
Hou encouraged by US trip
Department of Health Minister Hou Sheng-mao (侯勝茂) said on Wednesday that the US is willing to help Taiwan attend World Health Organization (WHO) meetings. He told Taiwanese journalists stationed in Washington that he had reached consensus with the US in May that the US would help Taiwan take part in WHO meetings based on the principle of application.

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