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The forests of Southeast Asia are under intense deforestation and
recently we heard the dire warnings that the world is presently
losing 13 million hectares of forest every year. That means less
oxygen and more carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.
Huge concentrations of CO2 and gasses will be
released into the pristine air over Subic Bay if and when
construction of a coal-fired power plant on scenic Subic Bay is
completed. This has to be opposed to protect the people, the forests
and the biodiversity of forest life. Soon the tourists, employees
and residents of Olongapo City will be choking on the smell of
sulfur and fumes (deadly nitrous oxide) belching from tall unsightly
smokestacks that will scar the skyline and blur the sunrise and
sunset in a toxic haze. Coal-fired plants, the greatest polluters of
all, produce sulfur dioxide emissions that destroy the forests and
make the sea acidic.
Man and uncaring profit-driven industry are
causing the global climate to change drastically with grave
consequences for all mankind and all species. We have to oppose such
disastrous projects like the “Redondo Peninsula power plant.”
Deforestation and pollution are the main
culprits for the extinction of millions of life forms in the past
fifty years. All this damage is driven by the greed of the
irresponsible rich. The trees and plants that give us oxygen to live
are under grave threat from us. We are poisoning ourselves. The
greatest sin of this generation is its neglect and destruction of
God’s creation.
Last week in Manila, Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf,
executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological
Diversity, made a plea to the regional political leaders to stop the
destruction of the forests. Eighty percent of the planet’s
biodiversity is in the tropical rain forests, he said. “What is
lost in the Philippines, what is lost in Asia, is lost for the
world.” According to one study, the Philippines had 90 percent of
its territory covered with tropical forest in 1911. Today it has
been reduced to a mere 19 percent and this is diminishing daily with
the law being flouted and corrupt politicians and business cronies
enriching themselves.
The Redondo Peninsula project is a 300-megawatt
coal-fired power plant 50 percent owned by the Aboitiz Power
Corporation through the Redondo Peninsula Energy, Inc. The other 50
percent is a Taiwanese corporation. It may be just one more business
enterprise that could be riddled with corruption. The regional
office of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources
has been bypassed because it vehemently opposed the project and will
not issue an environmental compliance certificate. The local
government, civil society and the public of the nearby towns and
provinces are totally against it. It is being imposed without
consent.
Erramon I. Aboitiz, president and chief
executive officer of Aboitiz Power Corp., when asked about his
family’s relationship with President Gloria Arroyo, said, “We
are friends but, you know, I don’t think it’s fair to say that
we benefited from it. It’s not correct to say that we
benefited.”
We hope that Sen. Richard Gordon, former
chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and chairman of the
Senate committee on energy, a self-proclaimed conservationist, will
oppose it also. We need legislation mandating that only nonpolluting
energy, wind turbines and solar powered plants be built as a
priority. The side of the Redondo Peninsula facing the South China
Sea is ideal for wind turbines. Out of sight and in full face of the
ocean winds, 15 would provide all the power needed. The alternative
to polluting coal-fired plants has to be found and implemented.
preda@info.com.ph
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