Saturday, February 10, 2007
Group asks Senate to pass Renewable Energy Bill
THE Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (Rise) asked the Senate through Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago to pass the Renewable Energy Bill.
In a last minute effort before Congress adjourns for the campaign period, the Ilonggo environmental group wrote Santiago as Energy Committee Chairperson to sponsor the passage of Senate Bill No. 2562 entitled: An Act Promoting and Enhancing the Development, Utilization and Commercialization of Renewable Energy Resources.
Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo certified the bill as urgent citing the need to institute concrete steps to address global warming and climate change.
President Arroyo said that it is very important "to address public emergency arising from the urgent need to achieve sustainable development of our country through environmental sustainability and energy self-sufficiency with the increasing demand for energy need to sustain the country's economic growth."
Rise raised the horrible impact of global warming particularly of the sea level rise to the small islands in the Visayas. Melvin Purzuelo a Co-Convener of Rise and Coordinator of Green Forum - Western Visayas said that our cities and towns are mainly located in the flood plains. "An increase of one meter in the sea level will perennially flood cities like Iloilo, Roxas and Bacolod," he said.
The Visayas has been declared by the Department of Energy as the country's Renewable Energy Center with more than 80% of electricity demand in the region supplied by geothermal energy. Since the mid 1990s, the provinces of Negros Occidental, Antique and Iloilo have successfully rejected applications for coal-fired power plants. Burning of fossil fuels like coal and petroleum is the primary contributor to greenhouse gasses emissions that cause global warming.
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga. (February 10, 2007 issue)
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