ENVIRONMENTALIST activists have stepped up their campaign against San Miguel Corporation (SMC) for its massive plans for new fossil gas power plants with a protest action on the day of its Annual Stockholders Meeting in Mandaluyong City today.
Other allied green groups participated in a protest action held simultaneously across the country to dramatize their advocacy against fossil fuels saying the proposed power plants of SMC will not address the potential climate warming effects or health concerns.
The groups led by the Power for People Coalition (P4P) and Protect VIP (Verde Island Passage) said San Miguel beer cans are shaped into a fossil gas plant – pointing out that SMC is no longer just iconic for its beer, but as the biggest developer of fossil gas in the country and Southeast Asia with over 14 GW new fossil gas capacity it is proposing.
“Building dependence on fossil gas means dependence on imported fuels, exposure to the volatile power supply and prices, leaving consumers to the constant threat of rising electricity rates, and vulnerability to geopolitical shocks globally,” said P4P convenor Gerry Arances.
He said with the consumers, environmental and energy advocacy groups, and communities across the country issued warnings as SMC barely forcing the burden of more dirty and costly energy on Filipinos goes against its credo for a ‘world made better.
From a predominantly coal-based power sector, the Philippines is looking to increase its use of fossil gas and LNG - the Department of Energy's new 'preferred fuel,' said Arances.
For P4P, Protect VIP, and allied groups, however, fossil gas is no better than coal in terms of affordability, sustainability, or promotion of national energy security.
“As SMC’s stockholders meeting today (June 14), we wonder if the hardships they bring with their fossil gas projects ever figure in their discussions - or if SMC’s rising revenues are all that matter,” he said.
“As one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines, SMC should be held accountable if they negatively use it to promote detrimental and costly energy,” Arances added.
Dubbed as a ‘clean’ alternative to coal, fossil gas and its super-cooled form liquefied natural gas (LNG) is being touted as a ‘transition’ fuel amidst calls for a renewable energy shift in recent years due to global climate targets.
While less carbon-intensive than coal, fossil gas and LNG emit methane throughout their value chain, a greenhouse gas with 80 times more heat-trapping capacity than CO2.
