At some point all the silliness surrounding the oil sector has to stop

May 27, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor

Please permit me some space to respond to a letter by Jamil Changlee which supports the lawsuit being brought by persons associated with Fair Deal for Guyana trying to shut down offshore oil production in that it violates the country’s Constitution and the rights of citizens to enjoy Guyana’s biodiversity inter alia.
The lawsuit is publicity seeking and entirely frivolous but I suppose the Attorney General will have to offer a defence at the taxpayer’s expense. And I have to wonder the purpose of such a fringe group that does not in fact want any Fair Deal but wants zero oil produced offshore. Those involved in bringing the case are of course well off with cushy jobs so prefer to ignore that part of the Constitution which talks of the citizen’s “right to work in accordance with personal qualifications.” It would be nice to hear the opinions of the thousands who now have jobs in the energy sector which by and large offers better wages and employment conditions including physically safe working environments, and for women, ones largely free from discrimination and harassment.
There is of course in our midst an industry that is also a significant contributor to global warming, that is rice cultivation which emits 12% of the world’s total methane output, a gas that is 23 times more damaging to the environment than C02. Many studies have been done on this and estimates range from around 200 to 600 kg of methane released per hectare of wetland, double cropped rice. With 98,000 hectares under cultivation in Guyana that amounts to up to 58,000 tonnes of methane being released annually into the atmosphere.
So will these same environmentalists also be bringing a case against the GRDB? Should the EPA require EIAs for new rice projects? Should they charge farmers for each tonne of methane produced? Probably not. The point is that all economic activity creates GHGs. All that industries can do is try to mitigate such emissions but it should not come at the expense of human development. Especially for a country whose people have struggled for centuries to reach a level of economic comfort many in the developed world have enjoyed at our and other former colonies’ expense.
And that goes for those mangroves too. In this regard, the government is right by stating it will replant mangroves elsewhere to make up for those lost in the development of the West Bank of the Demerara River. What a simple solution. What would the mangrove huggers prefer? That those jobs from any shore base go to Trinidad so Guyana can feel self-righteous for saving the planet? How does that even help?
At some point all the silliness surrounding the oil sector has to stop or maybe the elite will always need something about which to emit their own hot air?

Yours truly,
Lynn Nicholas

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