Speaker #1

Coal-fired power plants are type of power plant that makes use of the combustion of coal.
The coal is extracted from the ground that undergoes a cleansing process that is typically burned
in order to produce electricity. The establishment of the coal-fired power plant would have
indeed help increase electrical security, but what about our environment and health security? Are
we really choosing our own convenience over our environmental and overall safety? Power is no
match to the preservation of natural beauty, the abundant resources, and the protection of life and
health. Last March 6, 2019, the Negrosanon youth advocates and expressed their opinions
against coal-fired power plants in the Negros province. Hundreds of youth leaders calling for
urgent action from the provincial government.

Negros Occidental once coined as the Land of Sweet Surprises, now reckoned the
Renewable Energy Capital of the Philippines. Through the years, our province has been made
into a hub of plants powered by renewable energy, building towering mills in the cities of San
Carlos, Cadiz, Silay, La Carlota, Manapla and Murcia generating electricity enough for the
whole Negros Occidental. With the establishment of the Helios Solar Energy in 2015, our
province has topped the solar capacity not only in our country but all over the Southeast Asia,
generating over 500-megawatts of electricity in total with the other power plants all over the
province, according to the Negros Occidental Investment Promotions Center Public Information
Sector.

Therefore, we strongly disagree to the application of operation of the coal-fired power

plant in Negros. Scientifically, it is proven to have harmful impacts on the environment and on
human health and livelihood. It requires a large expanse of territory and destroys sizable ranges
of wilderness area, removing habitat and food sources. This eventually results in an imbalanced
ecosystem and even the extinction of entire species. Also, millions of tons of waste products
which can no longer be reused are generated from coal fired plants. Aside from the fact that these
waste products contribute to waste disposal problems, these also contain harmful substances. It
also damages the plant life and soil, creating barren patches of land that contribute to loss of
valuable topsoil, erosion and dust storms. Also, the high acidity of Acid Mine Drainage(AMD)
remains in the water supply even through evaporation and condensation, which enables it to stay
in the atmosphere and eventually return in the form of acid rain, thus, perpetuating the cycle of
pollution. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions from combusting fossil fuels are the main
byproduct of coal combustion. As a result, global warming is probably one of the most
significant and widely felt environmental effects of coal-fired power plant.
Speaker #2

Coal-fired power plants may cause the rise of power benefit and employment
opportunities, but there are still quite a few more eco-friendly ways of generating
electricity and getting a job than this. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists,
coal plants produce more than 100 million tons of coal ash every year, which usually
end up in water areas affecting the marine life and the people making a livelihood
through it. Power sources and job opportunities may come and go, but the effects of
these harmful plants into our environment are long-lasting, and will still be rampant even
if we are long gone, making the health and environmental security for the future
generations to come drop in peril.

Climate change is coal’s most serious, long-term, global impact. According to

Greenpeace International, a typical 500 megawatts coal power plant releases global
warming emissions roughly equal to 600,000 cars and has contributed up to 46% of
global carbon emissions by 2013. Unlike cars unfortunately, power plants are designed
to last for approximately 40 years – 40 times as harmful as what gases cars usually
emit. This kind of power plant may just be phased out in the future, but its aftermath
affects will still linger in our environment and affect us one by one, even without
realizing it.

Moreover, one of Cadiz City’s major sources of livelihood is the harvest of

seafood. Coal-fired power plants dump more than a million of toxic wastes into our
water areas every year. According to Environmental Protection Agency, 72% of all toxic
water pollution comes from coal-fired power plants, making it the number one source of
toxic water pollution globally. It is very unlikely and frowned upon that this plant will be
built within the city as most of the community will be affected due to the effects that the
power plant may cause to their source of seafood for livelihoods
Speaker #3

Renewable energy sources are abundant anywhere in the Philippines because of our
geographic location. However, we are not maximizing the utilization of our resources for our
own benefit. Coal is a limited resource that would take millions of years to replenish. In contrast,
renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower are constantly
replenished thereby making them sustainable.

Fortunately for Negros Occidental, a green revolution is taking place. Various forms of
renewable energy sources are either currently being used or already in the pipeline for
development, making Negros Occidental the Renewable Energy Capital of the Philippines.

Negros Occidental is also known as the sugar capital of the Philippines. It is the best
location for the country’s first ethanol plant which uses sugarcane as feedstock. The plant which
is owned by San Carlos Bioenergy has the capacity to crush 1,500 tons per day of sugarcane to
produce 125,000 liters per day of bioethanol. The plant is also a cogeneration plant producing 8
megawatts of power from bagasse. The 35-hectare solar farm is also located at the San Carlos
Ecozone and expected to generate at 22 megawatts of electricity using sunlight. Next is the
biomass project in San Carlos City that has a generation capacity of 18 megawatts supplying
baseload power to the local grid. Pulupandan Wind Power Project that also produces about 60
megawatts of power. Hydropower plants that mostly harness the power of major river systems in
Bago, Hilabangan, Himogaan, Malogo and others. And lastly, Philippines is also the world’s
second largest producer of Geothermal Energy producing a total of 1969.7 megawatts of power.