Hasty approval of coal-fired power projects in Mindanao questioned

Greenpeace condemns “midnight decision” on eve of Pnoy’s Mindanao energy summit

By GREENPEACE
April 4, 2012

MANILA  –  Greenpeace today questioned the “midnight” ECC approval of a 100 MW coal-fired power project in Mindanao, consummated by authorities on the eve of the Holy Week Holidays and just before the Energy Summit called by President Aquino on the island was to take place.

According to the environmental group, the hasty approval, which came well before the region’s upcoming Energy Summit intended to gather key stakeholders and examine viable options to address the island’s energy shortfall, confirms earlier suspicions that pro-coal business interests were out to capitalize on the current crisis to railroad government approval of such environmentally-sensitive projects that should have undergone better scrutiny.

Moreover, the group contends that no proper assessment and review of other energy options for the island were conducted by the Department of Energy whom it accused of favoring coal power at the expense of clean and renewable alternatives which would be more economically viable and sustainable in the long-term.

“With this midnight approval, the government has succeeded in creating a truly agonizing Holy Week scenario for the people of Mindanao, replete with episodes of sacrifice, false prophets, and public betrayal. After suffering from the agony of blackouts, the people are now offered false solutions in the form of coal plants guaranteed to flagellate local communities with decades of pollution that pose an immediate and lasting threat to human health, local livelihoods, and the climate,” said Von Hernandez, Executive Director, Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

“After the President’s campaign promise to support the development of renewable energy and phase-out coal power plants prior to his election, we thought this administration would approach this problem with a greater measure of integrity and sophistication.  On the contrary, he has allowed coal pushers in his team to overturn his pledge as evidenced by the DOE’s existing plans to build an unprecedented number of coal plants during his term.  The President should be advised that each coal plant he builds edges out the opportunity for the people of this country to harness clean and renewable power,” he added.

Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, wreaking environmental havoc, from coal mining that pollute water sources, to coal burning which releases toxins as well as greenhouse gases.  Coal is also the main driver of climate change whose catastrophic impacts include extreme weather leading to floods or drought, and rising sea levels. Greenpeace maintains that there is no such thing as “clean coal plants” and that there are no commercially available technologies that can remove mercury, a deadly neurotoxin, which accumulates in the environment and in the food chain, or carbon dioxide which causes climate change.

The DOE confirmed early this week that four coal plants and one coal power plant expansion are in the pipeline for Mindanao.  One of the plans were approved early this week, ironically, with a promise from the President to expedite the construction process of the harmful facility.  Last November 2011, the government gave the go signal to a coal plant in Sarangani, and before that in July, PNoy was guest of honor in the inauguration of another coal facility in the Visayas.  Should the other projects in Mindanao push through, President Aquino’s administration would have approved more coal plants than any of his predecessors.

In contrast, renewable energy is clean and costs cheaper than coal or oil in the long run.  In fact, the current proposed increase in prices per kilowatt hour due to the use of diesel in Mindanao is much higher than the proposed Feed-in-Tariff rates for new renewables that is currently pending at the Energy Regulatory Commission.