Quezon City — Last July 24, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 116, creating the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC) to study “the adoption of a National Position on a Nuclear Energy Program (NEP).”
Khevin Yu, Greenpeace Philippines campaigner, said:
“We question the timing and the intention of this Executive Order, which was belatedly announced and was deliberated at a time when the country is reeling from the COVID pandemic and the related economic crisis.
“Nuclear energy is the most expensive and most dangerous way to generate electricity, and can take 20 years to construct. It will only lock the country into perpetual dependence on imported fuels and debts, rendering our communities and our environment vulnerable to immense risks that we are ill-equipped to handle. A nuclear accident, which is always a possibility during operations and spent fuel storage, presents the same lasting threats to human health and public health systems, as well as to the economy, considering the huge costs of clean-up that can take decades. In contrast, renewable energy sources, which are key solutions to the climate crisis, are safer, cheaper and can be installed in a matter of months.
“We also question the motives in the creation of the NEP-IAC as its composition is not inclusive. It lacks representation from civil-society organizations, health institutions, communities and other important stakeholders. The creation of a national position, especially one that will recommend directions for our future everyday lives, should involve all stakeholders, and not only appointed members of a working committee.
“We call on Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi to focus on the work to fast track the country’s adoption of renewable energy and increase the ambition for 100% renewable energy uptake by 2030, instead of wasting precious time and resources in promoting nuclear, which is already being phased out in other parts of the world.”
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Media Contacts:
Khevin Yu, Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +63 998 966 4807
Angeli Cantillana, Communications Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +63 998 595 9733
Renewable energy is the key to our country’s energy independence. But coal companies and politicians are holding us back.