Manila, 27 February 2020: Last February 21, the Provincial Board of Antique passed an ordinance that bans the construction of new coal-fired power plants in the province.

Chuck Baclagon of 350.org Pilipinas issued the following statement:

“The Antique Provincial Board’s announcement of banning the putting up of new coal-fired power plants in their province is a clear indicator that the future shines brightly for clean energy.

Antique’s declaration joins the growing number of provinces and municipalities that are saying no more to dirty energy development that comes at the cost of people, ecosystems and our climate.

Beyond the declaration there is also a clear trend that the power market is evolving into one that requires more system flexibility and reliability, which cannot be found in fossil-fuels that even investors are fleeing the sector at an increasing rate, even the Department of Energy (DOE) attests to this.

Coal is bad not only because of its adverse health and environmental impacts, it is already becoming more apparent that coal is also bad for business.

These current trends lend credence to our claim that transitioning from coal to renewable energy has benefits both for the climate and our economy.

That is why we are challenging the DOE to step up and show leadership by hastening the phasing out of coal projects in the country’s energy mix and ramping up more investments on renewable energy.”