Earth Hour causes 9-MW drop in power consumption in Panay
Thousands of households, churches, institutions and business establishments switched off their lights and appliances to take part in Earth Hour last Saturday night, causing a nine-megawatt drop in power consumption on Panay Island.
But civil society groups urged Ilonggo officials to “walk their talk” in fighting global warming by stopping the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Iloilo City, and not limit their advocacy to just Earth Hour.
“Everyone now claims to be an environmentalist, but they should prove it by stopping the construction of the dirty coal-fired power plants in Iloilo City,” says Ted Ong of Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)–Iloilo.
Around 300 people gathered at the SM City Iloilo Mall for Earth Hour, with messages from local officials and performances by various artists.
The ceremonial switch-off was led by Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas, Sr., Mayor Jerry Treñas, University of the Philippines Visayas professor Joy Lizada representing the Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (RISE) and Rey Maleza of the Department of Energy.
“The painful lessons of Typhoon ‘Frank’ will always stick in our minds, and this should compel us to contribute our share towards reduction of carbon dioxide emissions,” Tupas said. “We are now more aware that this simple act of turning off lights that are not needed can, collectively, help unburden the earth’s atmosphere.”
Lizada said the ceremonial turning off of lights for one hour every last Saturday of March is not enough. “Policy makers should understand that there should be a balance between economic growth and environmental health,” she said.
In barely two years Ilonggos have had to cope with extreme weather events, the massive flooding by Typhoon Frank in 2008 and the current drought with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Hundreds of people died with Typhoon Frank and damaged public infrastructures worth more than P12 billion in Panay.
According to Pag-asa meteorologists, the further increase in the Earth’s atmospheric temperature will cause the permanence of the El Niño and La Niña extreme weather conditions.
But Iloilo City will soon be contributing to the rise in the Earth’s temperature. In 2008, Treñas allowed the construction of the Metrobank-owned coal-fired power plants in La Paz, Iloilo City despite the lack of City Council endorsement as required by the Local Government Code and building permits from the City Engineering Office.
Metrobank’s two 82-MW coal-fired power plants are expected to be finished by the end of this year.
Forty-nine percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the Philippines is caused by the burning of coal and other fossil fuels for electricity generation and transportation.
Earth Hour is a global event held as a symbolic vote for the Earth by imparting wise use of energy and efficient development. It started four years ago in Australia and has spread worldwide that four billion people are expected to participate in this year’s celebrations.
The nine-megawatt drop in power consumption in Iloilo City exceeded last year’s campaign. “This is more than double the four MW drop recorded during the same celebrations last year,” Maleza said. (Melvin Purzuelo, Green Forum–Western Visayas)
