MANILA, Philippines -
Greenpeace activists dumped 200 kilos of coal at the entrance of the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Thursday and unfurled a banner
with the message “Atienza, don’t be a climate criminal."

The activists
are demanding that Secretary Lito Atienza immediately reject all plans to
construct a dangerous coal-fired power plant in Iloilo City.

Instead of
actual coal, the activists used charcoal, which is safer than the coal used in
power plants. Coal, when burnt, releases a cocktail of toxic gases that have
deadly health impacts on downwind communities. It is also a major contributor to
climate change, the most serious environmental threat facing the world
today.

“It is a crime against humanity to abet climate change—a crime
that Secretary Atienza can stop by denying the issuance on an Environmental
Compliance Certificate (ECC) to the Iloilo Coal plant," Greenpeace Climate and
Energy Campaigner Jasper Inventor said in a statement. “If Mr. Atienza is, as he
claims, serious about working toward solutions to the climate problem, then he
should take the lead in blocking the construction and expansion of the Iloilo
plant and any other similar coal project in the country."

Greenpeace also
reminded Secretary Atienza about his own pronouncements at the UN climate change
meeting in Bali in December last year, where he called on world governments to
act urgently and decisively to reverse climate change.

Mr. Atienza at
Bali had emphasized that climate change will condemn the Philippines to poverty,
and, worldwide, will displace some 340 million people while depriving 1.8
billion people of drinking water.

“And it is under his stewardship that
the DENR is due to decide on the issuance of an ECC for the Iloilo coal plant
whose construction plans have been met with massive resistance from civil
society, church, and community groups in the city. We have brought this charcoal
to him today to remind him of his words—if he eats them, then he can eat coal as
well," Inventor said.

Coal is the dirtiest, most carbon intensive of all
fossil fuels.

Emitting 29 percent more carbon per unit of energy than oil
and 80 percent more than gas, it is one of the leading contributors to climate
change.

Although coal-fired power plants already account for 36% of the
country’s carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector, at least eight
coal-fired plants are lined up for construction or expansion in the Philippines,
including the 165 MW coal-fired power plant in Iloilo.

“Iloilo does not
need this coal plant. At present, there is an oversupply of 85MW in Panay Island
and Guimaras. Beginning October 2008, there will be an additional oversupply
when the existing submarine cable linking Panay Island to the Negros geothermal
grid starts providing an additional 30MW of electricity. On top of that, when
the submarine cable is upgraded also later this year, Iloilo will receive an
additional 100MW, bringing the total electricity oversupply to 215MW," said
Melvin Purzuelo of Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy
(RISE).

Greenpeace and RISE maintain that needed power additions can be
supplied by a range of renewable energy alternatives from small hydro, biomass
and wind within Panay, and the expansion of geothermal power plants within the
Visayas grid, eliminating the need for coal. - GMANews.TV