Bishop lauds guv’s commitment to RE

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Diocese of San Carlos Bishop Gerry Alminaza lauded the declaration of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson to advance renewable energy (RE) in Negros Occidental, by welcoming investments in RE and encouraging the harnessing of clean energy from sources, like the sun and wind.

Responding to a statement delivered by Alminaza during a meeting of the House Committee on Energy last week on the increased electricity rates in Negros and Iloilo, Lacson said he “believes that renewable energy will help bring down the cost of power in Negros in the long term.”

Bishop Gerry Alminaza

Alminaza, in a statement issued by the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), said it is assuring to hear from the head of the provincial government that Negros Occidental will seek to secure a future powered by clean energy that genuinely benefits its residents, especially at a time when the prices of electricity and fuel soar, and as the climate emergency being faced keeps getting worse, just like what global leaders are discussing now at the climate summit in the United Kingdom.

Alminaza serves as a convenor of REpower Negros, a broad CSO, youth, church, and consumer-led movement advancing for renewable energy in the island.

San Carlos City, where Lacson served as mayor for nine years, is recognized as an RE hub, not just in the Philippines but also in Southeast Asia, Alminaza added.

“We hope that this direction can be consistently followed, both in terms of the kind of energy Negros produces and the kind of energy we contract, because right now, our homes are still powered mostly by costly and dirty fossil fuel plants from outside the island,” Alminaza also said.

He added that he is hopeful that Lacson’s commitment will translate to protecting Negros and its people from the threat of fossil fuel development. — GB