Environmental groups yesterday criticized the government for spending more subsidies on gasoline-powered scooters than on electric ones, questioning its resolve to combat air pollution and promote sustainability.
The groups made the remarks in response to the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday reviewing the budget proposal for the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), saying that lawmakers should urge the agency to make better use of its air pollution control fund.
A total of NT$1.1 billion (US$38.25 million) has been spent on subsidizing the purchases of 136,000 gasoline-powered scooters this year, including NT$600 million from the EPA, Taiwan Environment and Planning Association chairman Chao Chia-wei (趙家緯) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
By comparison, only NT$320 million was spent on subsidies for 24,000 electric scooters, with the funds partly coming from the Industrial Development Bureau, he said.
Even the most efficient gasoline-fueled scooters produce far more pollutants than electric ones, he said.
Citing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Chao said that “the time of fossil-fuel subsidies is over.”
Chao urged the EPA to follow the global carbon reduction trend and improve its fund allocation.
Former EPA deputy minister Thomas Chan (詹順貴) said that the Cabinet under Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has reduced its efforts to combat air pollution.
The EPA’s air pollution control fund, with an annual budget of NT$7 billion to NT$8 billion, should stop subsidizing vehicles that cause air pollution, he said.
While the Cabinet in 2018 said that it aims to ban the sale of gasoline-powered scooters by 2035 and gasoline-powered vehicles by 2040, the goals were dropped after Su assumed office, Chan said.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan deputy executive director Tsai Chung-yueh (蔡中岳) said that the Executive Yuan last year announced sustainability goals, including raising the market share of newly sold scooters powered by alternative energy sources to 35 percent by 2030.
The government should stick to those goals, Tsai said, adding that as of September, the market share of such scooters was only 10 percent.
Additional reporting by CNA
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