TAIPEI: The head of the Executive Yuan, Wu Den-yih, said yesterday, the administration is continuing to push the development of renewable energy in a bid to cut consumption of fossil fuels and reduce Taiwan's carbon dioxide emissions.

During a hearing at the Legislative Yuan, Wu said the government has promoted renewable energy development based on three principles - offering incentives, allowing renewable energy producers to make profits and ensuring social equality.

Wu was responding to a question from ruling Kuomintang legislator Lee Ching-hua on whether the administration's plans to impose "green" taxes, including energy and carbon taxes, were conceived to raise tax revenues or to conserve energy and reduce green house gas emissions.

The legislator contended that the KMT administration should provide renewable energy options for people to choose from rather than increasing or levying new taxes to reduce energy consumption.

Meanwhile, Wu reiterated that the government will not begin levying an energy tax without sound planning and said there is no timetable for the measure at present.

Wu said that although the proposed energy tax is commendable and has been implemented in several industrially-advanced countries, the time is not ripe yet to adopt it in Taiwan, especially "when the domestic economy has just begun to bottom out from a year-long downturn and the people's lives are still difficult."

Wu assured the public on Monday that a proposed energy tax will not be levied soon.

He said the energy tax, which would be assessed on the consumption of gasoline, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel, fuel oil, and natural gas, is still on the drawing board, and that if it is imposed, complementary measures will be adopted to ease its sting.

"The fuel consumption fee and other taxes would be dropped," the premier said.

Amendments to existing laws would also have to be screened and approved by the legislature before the tax could be implemented, he added.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 10/21/2009 page2)