Senator hits proliferation of coal power plants

MANILA, Philippines – The government should tap cleaner and less wasteful sources of energy and stop allowing more coal-fired power plants in the country, Sen. Loren Legarda said Friday.

As chair of the Senate committee on climate change, Legarda lauded the Aquino administration’s order for government agencies to review the Philippines’ energy policy, which may see the country moving away from generating electricity through coal.

“Our goal to reduce carbon emissions will be impossible if we will continue to allow the construction and operation of additional coal-fired power plants, the nation’s top source of greenhouse gas emissions and the primary cause of global warming,” she said.

Legarda noted that in the past five years, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources granted at least 21 coal-fired power plants an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

“The Philippines is contradicting itself when it says it wants a strong agreement in climate change yet is allowing the proliferation of new coal power plants,” she said.

Legarda cited a resolution by the Climate Change Commission to lead an “urgent and comprehensive” review of the government’s energy policy within the next six months.

She expressed optimism that with the resolution, the government would have stricter standards when issuing ECCs for power plants, which should include measuring greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on health and the environment.

The Philippines is among the countries that have felt the effects of climate change, among them extreme weather patterns.