Victory! Borneo Government Cancels Coal Plant

It's hard to think of a worse place to build a coal-fired power plant than in Malaysian Borneo, an island with rich rainforests, pristine beaches, and a tourism/fishing-dependent economy.

So it's amazing news to hear that finally the Sabah government agrees.

Ending a three year saga led by a strong grassroots coalition and eventually involving activists all over the world, including more than 3,500 people who took action on Change.org, the government announced this week it would pursue alternative power options:

"The Prime Minister understands that one of Sabah's greatest assets is its natural attractions and still somewhat pristine environment. While Sabah needs to increase power supply to meet increasing development, the state cannot afford to put its natural environment at risk...I know there has been certain objections to the proposed coal powered plant. Today is proof that such objections have not fallen on deaf ears," the government wrote in a statement.

Cynthia Ong, who was born and raised in Sabah, was the major leader of this movement. She organized Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future), a coalition of local and regional groups to fight the power plant. Their success came in spurts: The government actually changed the location twice before its decision last week to scrap it.

The coalition included LEAP (Land Empowerment Animals People), a U.S.-based organization Ong founded in 2005. It was Ong's LEAP colleague Angela Sevin who started and promoted a petition to stop the plan that gained more than 3,50o international supporters through Change.org.

Psyched about the victory, Sevin told Change.org in an email: "Beginning with the grassroots movement in Sabah, connecting with NGOs (350.org, 4 Years Go, Green For All, and many others) and getting the message out and using social network tools such as Change.org, facebook and twitter, so many people got involved, the momentum was amazing!"

One key success tactic of the campaign was Green SURF's efforts to show viable renewable energy alternatives, rather than simply campaign against coal power. The coalition worked with University of California, Berkeley energy expert Dan Kammen, who produced a crucial report that legitimized many of Green SURF's claims of Sabah's untapped renewable energy supply. "I am thrilled to have been able to work with the people of Sabah on this victory, and look forward to watching the international community learn from Sabah's triumph of planning and partnership," Kammen wrote.

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Cynthia Ong also worked with LEAP to present the issue to prisoner's at California's San Quentin prison. Sevin reported that prisoners, too, were inspired to write letters to Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak. Finally, LEAP recruited filmmaker Konda Mason to travel to Borneo and work with young activist filmmakers to put together the video that went with the Change.org petition.

As Sevin says, this was a huge team effort: "This is a win that shows the power of the people, local and global networks combined to bring about a change that will ripple across the planet!"

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Photo credit: irwandy