■ 'NO TO COAL, YES TO RENEWABLE SOURCES'
Cebu Archbishop Palma joins Earth Hour 2017 celebration, asks government to shift to renewable energy
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma reminded the public to take care of God’s creation, and one way of achieving that is to shun coal-fired power plants. At the People’s Conversation on Coal program yesterday, Palma said that using coal as a source of power is not an ideal solution because it destroys the environment and affects people’s health. It’s time that the government shifted to renewable sources, he said. Palma urged the National Government and the local government to protect the citizens from coal-fired power plants.
As the world observed Earth Hour 2017 yesterday, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma reminded the public to take good care of God’s creation.
In his keynote speech during the People’s Conversation on Coal program held at the University of San Jose-Recoletos, Palma said Ce- bu’s local struggle when it comes to protecting the environment is the proposed 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Sawang Calero.
Palma said using coal as a source of power is not an ideal solution because it destroys the environment and affects the health of humanity.
“Every individual has the right to live in a healthful and balanced ecology. Our government, much more so, our local government, must guarantee that the health of the citizens is safeguarded from polluting industries, like coalfired power plants. Responsible energy choice takes the side of the common good, a way for us to move away from fossil fuels, thus ending away our dependency from it,” he said.
Instead of using coal, Palma said the government should shift to renewable energy.
Palma hopes the government will act on climate change issues after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Paris Agreement last year.
The activity was part of the Earth Hour 2017 celebration yesterday.
After the program, the group marched towards Plaza Independencia to show their opposition to the proposed coal-fired power plant in Sawang Calero, Cebu City.