Taipei, June 6 (CNA) Leaders of Air Clean Taiwan (ACT) and other environmental groups said on Tuesday they will hold a rally and a concert in Yunlin County on June 10 to demand that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文）establish a national task force to fight air pollution and promote an energy policy based exclusively on renewable energies.

Yeh Kuang-peng (葉光芃), ACT president, said recent torrential rain across the country was a clear indication that Taiwan faces "extreme weather" risks as a result of global warming and climate change, but the country's efforts at cutting carbon dioxide emissions have to date been unimpressive.

"Our rally, organized mainly by green groups in central Taiwan, will call on the government to do everything it can to reduce the use of coal, carbon emissions and air pollution" as part of a global campaign to slow down global warming, he told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan.

He said participating groups are calling on the president to establish a "national task force" to look at ways to reduce air pollution, promote green energy and develop a strategy to address climate change, by the end of September.

The government's "Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Plan" which is currently being reviewed in the Legislature should incorporate a program to eliminate coal-fired power plants and another to introduce zero-pollution vehicles, he said.

Yeh also suggested that the government should stop issuing permits to factories and power plants in Yunlin County for the use of low-grade coal, which has been blamed for air pollution and increase of the incidence of health problems among local residents.

(By Chen Chun-hua and S.C. Chang)
Enditem/ AW/