BACOLOD CITY -- The four Roman Catholic bishops in Negros cited the appeal of Pope Francis to “every person living on this planet” to protect the environment in opposing coal-fired power plants in the island.
In a collegial pastoral statement released on Thursday, they called on Negrenses to stand firm together – with each other and with civic leaders – to oppose any coal-fired power plants and phase out those still in operation.
The joint statement, based on the Pope’s encyclical letter “Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home,” was issued by Bishops Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos, Patricio Buzon of the Diocese of Bacolod, Louie Galbines of the Diocese of Kabankalan, and Julito Cortes of the Diocese of Dumaguete.
“Our desire to ensure energy for all must not lead to the undesired effect of a spiral of extreme climate changes due to a catastrophic rise in global temperatures, harsher environments, and increased levels of poverty,” the bishops said.
They cited that in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis officially published on June 18, 2015, the highest Catholic Church leader called for ecological conversion, for humanity to reduce consumption of coal and other fossil fuels that are major contributors to climate change, and to embrace an energy future that is clean, renewable, and equitable for the health and well-being of the planet and for future generations.
The bishops appealed to Negrenses to heed the call for ecological conversion and transformative renewable power that is shared by all.
They pointed out that “coal-driven power will never truly be cheap, especially when we factor in the numerous environmental, social, and health costs associated with its usage.”
In fact, solar power is increasingly becoming the lowest-cost energy option, they said.
With the continuing emergence of storage solutions, renewables will provide greater resiliency and energy independence, immune from the unpredictability of global commodity prices, they added.
The bishops’ statement noted that there are already nine solar power plants, eight biomass plants, and 10 hydro power plants all over Negros, resulting in combined capacity of 579.43 megawatts.
They added that the four dioceses have been increasingly demonstrating that sustainable energy practices work for them and their respective communities.
Decentralized rooftop solar energy systems in the dioceses of Bacolod and San Carlos, for instance, showed how small-scale distributed renewable energy generation is climate-friendly, sustainable, and affordable.
The local churches of Dumaguete and Kabankalan are equally committed to seriously implement the Laudato Sí Challenge of the Holy Father and are finding concrete ways to safeguard the environment, they added.
“And yet, the dark specter of fossil fuels remains with a proposed coal-fired plant in San Carlos City, hanging over our future, exacerbating climate change, threatening our resources, our environment, our health, and our sustainable development,” they further said in the statement.
Alminaza expressed his opposition to the proposed 300-megawatt coal-fired plant by the SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. in San Carlos City in a position letter issued by the diocese last month. (PNA)
