The US environmental group Sierra Club, Green Peace and Research Group CoalSwarm recently reported a 62 per cent fall in the number of new coal-fired power plants being built worldwide in 2016 and a 48 per cent drop in “pre-construction activity” to suggest a turnaround from coal-based energy.
But contrary to such global trend and demand for clean energy worldwide, the Bangladesh government is rapidly moving towards building more coal-based power plants including one very close to Sundarbans’ mangrove forest. It remains a mystery why the government is adamant to build Rampal Power Plant, a joint venture plant with India based on buying coal from Indian coalmines.
From the perspective of climate change, we must say the world will only be able to keep global warming within two degrees Celsius and better at 1.5 degree above pre-industrial levels (1998) without using coal as basic energy. But coal will only add to global warming. It appears that Bangladesh, being a signatory to Paris climate change agreement is somehow failing to comprehend that the country risks enormous climate warming from India pushed power plants that aims at selling coal to Bangladesh. India is pushing the project at a time when it is scaling its own existing coal-fired projects and planning no new coal-based projects at least through the next decade.
Amid stark contradictions and debates, we suggest that the government should carefully re-think about the possible environmental fall-out of coal-based power in the country. But despite strong public opposition to the project and countless street demonstrations and heated debate the government is turning a blind eye to public opposition to the project.
We ask the government to pay heed to suggestions such as the one recently by some noted academicians to relocate the Rampal Power Plant, now under construction to at least thirty kilometers from the present site to protect Sundarbans from being hit by air and water pollution. We must say the government leaders, lawmakers and socio-political thinkers must think it apolitically to save the World heritage forest when it comes to protect its existence.
We must say when we have gas shortage, we should increasingly switch to solar energy to protect environment instead of coal-based project to keep global warming at low level. There can’t be a long-run alternative to it.
