Several entities requested the President of the Republic, Louis Abinadertake advantage of the celebration of the Climate Week of the Latin American and Caribbean Region that will be held in the country from July 18 to 22, to announce the short-term closure of the Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant.
In addition, the closure of other existing coal plants in the country and replace the electricity generated by these thermoelectric plants with energy from renewable sources.
The Coalition for the Defense of Health and the Environment of the Peravia province, the Institute of Lawyers for the Protection of the Environment (INSAPROMA) and the National Committee for the Fight Against Climate Change, delivered the vice president of the National Council for Climate Change Climate and Clean Development Mechanism, Max Puig a communication addressed to President Abinader in which the request is made.
In the letter, the entities affirm that the study they recently carried out with the advice and support of universities and scientific organizations from the US and Europe on the contamination of Punta Catalina revealed that this contamination covers a large part of the country from the Peravia province to the border, extends entirely over Haiti and reaches the east coast of Cuba and Jamaica.
They argue that the lethality of the contamination of Punta Catalina that affects the Western Caribbean requires the rapid fertilization of coal to generate electricity.
They explain that the increased cost and scarcity of fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, also force the country’s electricity matrix to switch without wasting time to operating from renewable energies to obtain security, stability and energy sovereignty.
Read more: In 30 years, ashes from Punta Catalina would cause 2,400 deaths in the DR
They warned that the country is threatened with a general and permanent blackout due to the current energy crisis.
They recalled that they presented to the authorities and public opinion a rapid transition plan towards renewable energies based on the massive installation of solar panels on the roofs of public and residential buildings throughout the national territory, together with the calling and holding of international auctions of renewable energy.
They point out that with these measures in 18 months it will be possible to replace the electricity currently generated by coal plants.
“With these measures, the country would more than meet the nationally determined commitments it has made with the international community to deal with climate change and its extreme effects, and at the same time would allow us to have clean energy at very low costs, without harmful impacts on the health and the environment,” they say.
They stated that since Climate Week, the country will be able to demand that the central nations, which are the ones that emit the most greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, comply with climate justice, “supporting with resources and efficient measures, the energy transition of the most vulnerable to climate change such as the island states of the Caribbean, among which is the Dominican Republic.
They urge President Abinader to turn the country into “a benchmark example of the path to face climate change and the current energy crisis that we suffer, especially the countries that depend on the importation of fossil fuels.”
