NANAWAGAN ang mga tagapagtaguyod ng enerhiya sa pangunguna ng Power for People Coalition (P4P) at mga komunidad na apektado ng ‘coal’ o karbon sa Department of Energy (DOE) na gamitin ang kanilang idineklarang ‘coal moratorium’ at tanggalin ang lahat ng ‘coal-fired power plants’  na nagdudulot din ng matinding panganib kapag may kalamidad sa bansa.

“Coal fuels disasters. It’s plain and simple. So long as we burn coal, its greenhouse gas emissions will continue to heat the Earth and produce typhoons like Rolly and Ulysses, only much stronger and more frequently. It’s already too late to reverse the current trend of typhoons, but it’s not too late to stop the trend from becoming worse,” paliwanag ni  Gerry Arances, P4P Convenor sa ginanap na online press conference.

Aniya, ang ‘karbon’ ang siyang pinakamalaking pinagkukunan ng enerhiya dahil sa “technologically neutral” na pinaninindigan ng DOE, na humikayat pa sa konstruksyon ng mga karagdagang ‘coal power plants’ sa Pilipinas.

Ayon naman kay Ian Rivera, national coordinator ng Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), ang ‘coal moratorium’ ay paraan lamang ng DOE para matakpan ang kanilang pagkabigo sa pagpaplano at ang papel nito sa sanhi ng masasamang rate ng kuryente sa bansa, na ngayon ay pinakamahal sa Asya.

“DOE finally succumbs to the truth of market signals, the global trends of waning financial viability of coal, the strong drive of renewables, and the stranding of coal plants in Mindanao with an excess in baseload in the island which DOE already needs to transport to Visayas and Luzon,” ani Rivera.

Kaugnay nito, plano ng P4P na muling magdaos ng National Day of Action Against Coal (NDA) upang hilingin sa DOE na gamitin ang ‘coal moratorium’ upang permanenteng ipagbawal ang pag-iisyu ng mga bagong Certificates of Endorsements sa mga proyekto ng karbon sa mga ‘pipeline.’

Nais aniya nilang bawiin ng DOE at tanggalin maging ang mga nakatayo nang mga planta ng karbon.

“A capacity of 9.88 GW coal is currently installed in the country, a number that would see a 140% increase if all projects currently in the pipeline go online. No amount of economic growth can

compensate for the damage that the climate emergency can bring. The poor are the ones who bear the brunt of the consequences, with their flooded towns and destroyed lives,” dagdag pa ng P4P convenor. (TJ DELOS REYES)