Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that he is open to discussions about a proposal to distribute the government’s air pollution control fund based on the amount of airborne pollutants in an area, rather than its population.
Lai made the remark on the sidelines of an exhibition opening in Taipei, amid growing public pressure on the government to address the air pollution problem after smog on Wednesday engulfed the western half of Taiwan.
“There are many sources of air pollution,” Lai said.
In Taiwan’s case, one third of air pollution comes from mobile sources, such as automobiles and motorcycles, and one third from stationery sources and industrial facilities, Lai said, adding that thermal power plants only account for 2.9 percent of Taiwan’s pollution.
The remaining one-third mostly comes from other countries, particularly China, Lai said.
Asked about the possibility of distributing the pollution fund based on the amount of pollutants in an area, Lai said that if local governments asked for the distribution method to be changed, he would instruct the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to investigate the matter based on sources of pollutants, population and other factors.
The fund, which was set up in 1995 under the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), is replenished with air pollution control taxes imposed on stationary and mobile pollution sources.
For stationary pollution sources, the government collects a tax based on the amount of pollutants — mainly sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds — emitted by private and public facilities.
Forty percent of the taxes on stationary pollution sources goes to the central government, while the rest is divided between local governments.
As for sources of mobile pollution, a fee of NT$0.3 and NT$0.4 is charged per liter of gasoline and diesel, respectively.
According to statistics compiled by the EPA, the government on average collects NT$4 billion for the fund per year.
By May it had collected NT$1.47 billion.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
RSS