Press Release
June 27, 2009

Pia bats for clean energy amid effects of climate change

Stronger than usual typhoons, flashfloods, twisters and landslides all indicate the reality of climate change and its effects on the Philippines. The government must therefore "get real" on its campaign to address this "inconvenient truth" by seriously pursuing a national energy program that harnesses the country's massive renewable energy potentials while relying less on dirty fuel sources, particularly coal.

This was the appeal issued by Senator Pia S. Cayetano, as she warned of "dire environmental consequences" from government's continued dependence on dirty fossil fuels as the country's main energy source.

Cayetano said coal-fired power plants remained the Philippines' number one source of electricity, accounting for about 3,967 MW or equivalent to 26 percent of the country's total installed power generating capacity. Another 23 percent comes from imported crude oil, which is not only dirty, but also a costly source of energy, she added.

"I hope that the Renewable Energy Act (Republic Act 9513) that was passed by Congress last year doesn't go the way of similar 'green' laws that remain un-promoted and largely unimplemented," lamented the lady senator, one of the principal authors of the landmark RA 9513.

She noted that earlier attempts to promote renewable energy include: Executive Order 232/462 (Ocean, Solar and Wind Law); Presidential Decree 1441 (An Act to Promote the Exploration and Development of Geothermal Resources) and RA 7156 (Mini-Hydroelectric Power Incentives Act). On the other hand, the renewable energy act pushes the exploration of geothermal, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, wind, and ocean energy by offering various tax and non-tax incentives for such ventures.

"I don't think this government is prepared to handle the inconvenient truth about the urgency of climate change. Despite all these green energy laws, the Department of Energy (DOE) remains bent on pursuing more coal-fired power plants. It even recently entered into a joint venture to study the prospects of resurrecting the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. So where does this leave 'renewables' in the national energy mix?"

Cayetano is also the author of Senate Resolution No.420 calling for a legislative inquiry on the environmental impact of coal energy. The resolution also calls for a shift towards the use of renewable energy while seeking a moratorium on the construction and expansion of coal-fired power plants.

"While coal is largely considered to be the cheapest fuel, its real cost should not be limited to price and energy efficiency, but must also be measured in terms of its impact on people's health, society and the environment as a whole."

Cayetano said novel and scientific attempts to measure the "external costs" of coal has been initiated by environmental groups like Greenpeace, which recently came out with a report, "The True Cost of Coal." (For more details see http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/cost-of-coal)

She added that Greenpeace has identified these so-called "external costs" as respiratory diseases, mining accidents, acid rain, smog pollution, reduced agricultural yields and climate change, among others.

These factors are not reflected in the price of mined coal per ton or in kilowatt-hours it is capable of producing but the entire world pay for these nonetheless, she concluded.

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