The proposal put forward by Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) campaign team to only begin developing sources of renewable energy from 2025 would hurt the nation’s efforts to promote clean energy and deal a severe blow to related industries, a coalition of environmental groups said yesterday.
Han is the KMT’s candidate for next year’s presidential election.
The cost of electricity generated from renewable sources is capped at a competitive NT$1 to NT4 per kilowatt-hour, but Han’s campaign team, which includes former premier Simon Chang (張善政) and former vice premier Woody Duh (杜紫軍), is still clinging to the old narrative that renewable energy is expensive, untried and unstable, Green Citizens’ Action Alliance deputy secretary-general Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
This is not only outdated, but erroneous, he said.
Chang and Duh were the “hatchet men” behind former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) energy policy, Hung said.
Chang and Duh’s stigmatization and obstruction tactics are the reason that there is time pressure for developing “green” energy sources, yet they are still preaching the same dogma five years on, he said.
International companies have joined the RE100 renewable energy movement and pledged to gradually boost their use of green energy, Hung said, adding that some firms are anxious about the prospect of not being able to secure deals with upstream suppliers of renewable energy.
During summer, when electricity demand is at its peak, the share of energy provided by solar energy has reached 12 percent, surpassing nuclear energy, Mom Loves Taiwan secretary-general Yang Shun-mei (楊順美) said.
Even if Han is elected, his first term would have ended by 2025, Yang said, adding that without a road map or goals, it is unthinkable how much damage his policy would do to the renewable energy industry.
Chang claims that nuclear waste can be shipped to France to be processed, but the processed waste would still be sent back to Taiwan, and the government would ultimately have to decide where to place a deep storage facility, said Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan adviser Tsai Chung-yueh (蔡中岳).
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
CHANGES NEEDED: About 84,000 people signed a petition advocating for stronger protection laws, with people traveling from other parts of Taiwan to join the cause A rally in Taipei yesterday called on the government to increase penalties for and protections against child abuse, following the death of a one-year-old boy nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴) in 2023. Kai Kai was allegedly tortured to death on Christmas Eve 2023 by his licensed at-home caregiver, Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱), and Liu’s sister, Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳). The two attended their final court hearing on Wednesday, with sentencing scheduled for Tuesday. The rally, organized by a group called the “Mothers’ Online Group” — a grassroots movement formed on social media by concerned parents and citizens following Kai Kai’s case — took place on
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