(The Philippine Star) | Updated July 1, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines -
A coalition of environmental groups yesterday asked the Supreme Court
(SC) to order the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and
the Department of Energy (DOE) to strictly regulate the operations of
coal-fired power plants and reduce the country’s dependence on fossil
fuels.
The Philippine Movement
for Climate Justice (PMCJ), with De La Salle University-College of Law dean
Jose Manuel Diokno as lead convenor filed a 64-page petition for writ of
continuing mandamus with temporary environmental protection order before the
SC.
The PMCJ said “the DOE
and the DENR are supposed to be the vanguards of energy security and
environmental sustainability” but they allowed coal plants to proliferate,
making the country more instead of less dependent on fossil fuels.
“As a direct result of
the failure of DENR and DOE to do their duties specifically enjoined by law and
their respective offices, the country has had to rely on dirty energy generated
by coal plants that have been operating without proper standards, without
accountability and without regard to their adverse impact on the environment
and the people’s health,” PMCJ said.
“Unless this Honorable
Court intervenes, the Philippines will be locked in to costly and harmful coal
contracts for generations to come, despite the existence of renewable energy
that is cleaner, cheaper and better,” it added.
Gerry Arances, one of
the PMCJ petitioners, said when renewable energy started in year 2009, it accounted
for 34 percent of energy sources. But as of last year, it went down to 29
percent.
“Despite having laws that promote clean and
cheap source of energy, what is happening is the opposite,” Arances said as he
expressed concern that by year 2030, the percentage of coal use would go up to
70 to 80 percent.
Too much exposure to
coal could lead to diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI) and cancer,
the group noted.
The group asked the SC
to compel the DENR to immediately review or revise the ambient air quality
guideline values, emission standards for stationary sources and effluent
standards; and disclose power plant companies operating without continuous
emission monitoring system (CEMS) and the continuous emission opacity systems
(COMS) and to institute proceedings against them.
It also asked the SC to
order the DENR to install proper ambient air monitoring equipment and to
delineate and designate attainment and non-attainment of areas, at least in
areas with existing and proposed coal plants.
On the other hand, the
group asked that the DOE be made to issue the Renewable Portfolio Standards
(RPS) rules, establish the Green Energy Options Program and reduce dependence
on fossil fuels and comply with the Philippines’ commitments under the Paris
Climate Change Agreement.
The PMCJ also asked the
high court to issue a temporary environmental protection order until such time
that the DENR and DOE are able to comply with its demands.
It said the DENR must
also be enjoined from processing environmental compliance certificate (ECC)
applications for coal-fired plants and from issuing authority to construct and
permit to operate to coal plants.
The DOE, meanwhile,
must be enjoined from issuing the certificate endorsement to coal plants and
service contracts with coal plant proponents, the group told the SC.
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