COAL RESISTANCE: Coal is not a solution, it’s a problem

COAL RESISTANCE

Statement

45th Earth Day Celebration

#ResistCoal is the official hashtag of Coal Resistance in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur

The long dry spell experience during and approaching summer season cause the decrease of water level in Lanao Lake and Pulangi River disrupting the regular power generation of Agus-Pulangi Hydro-Power complexes which supply more than 40% of electric needs of the entire Mindanao.

This vicious cycle of power crisis in Mindanao has generated mixed reactions from different stakeholders. But apparently, the government and most members of the business sector, aside from privatization of government power assets for a fair market competition, opted for “coal” as a solution to this problem. In effect, coal-fired power plants, with different power generation capacity, proliferate in different points of the island. 

Dubbed as the dirtiest source of energy, coal industry is also identified by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) to produce the most- carbon intensive products. From its extraction from the earth’s surface to its processing, coal is single biggest contributor to the historical increase of greenhouse gases (GHG) emission in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution.   

GHG is responsible for global warming which result is manifested in erratic weather condition: stronger tropical storms, longer droughts, melting of ice caps, etc. The current dry spell, that destroys hundreds of millions worth of food crops in Mindanao, hungers thousands of farmers and dries-up bodies of water, is but a part of such. 

Though the coal-fired power plants can provide the needed supply to halt the rotating blackouts in Mindanao but it is a fact that it is only a short term solution to the problem. Its environmental sustainability is still largely in question. It is therefore imperative for the government develop the renewable sources of energy which Mindanao is rich of- water, wind, solar and geo-thermal. 

In the period when the earth is in a rapid decline due to unlimited extraction of its natural resources and continuous massive GHG emission in the atmosphere causing the steady increase of earth’s temperature that subsequently lead to more a profound crisis,  a solution that aggravates the problem is definitely a pervert one. 

Climate change is a time-ticking bomb. It is feared that if the current rate of environmental decay is not curbed out, its effects will be irreversible. 

In the 45th Celebration of the Earth Day, the Coal Resistance in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur will launch Resist Coal Campaign. This campaign will involve series of activities from organizing communities and networks, petition signing, demonstration, legal and para-legal action to change local and national policy on power and environment.

Contact Us: 

Mark Lester Mandar
Contact Nos.: 223-2508/ 09323038340/ lmkabataan@yahoo.com.ph /
Like our Facebook Page: COAL RESISTANCE 
Follow us in our blog page: COAL Resistance Portals at http://lmkportal.blogspot.com/  

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Coal Resistance is convened by Liga ng Makabagong Kabataan (LMK); Ranaw Tri-people Movement for Genuine Peace and Development (RTMGPD); Lanao Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (LAHRA); Electoral Reforms and Development Assistance Center (ERDAC); Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement-LANIMOOC Cluster; Kilusang Maralita sa Kanayunan (KILOS KA)-Lanao; and, Ranaw Disaster Response and Rehabilitation Assistance Center (RDRRAC.