SINCE oil and gas were discovered in Guyana, a lobby, both in Guyana and abroad, has emerged critical of the exploitation of this resource, claiming it will poison the environment and, more particularly, would be releasing greenhouse gases which would quicken the onslaught of Climate Change.

Climate Change has very deleterious effects on the planet, causing destructive flooding in many parts of the world, desertification in other parts, and destruction of low island states like the Maldives or low-lying coastal regions like Guyana.

Agriculture and planting cycles become disrupted resulting in food shortages and increased prices for agricultural products.  Guyana has already experienced some of the destructive effects of Climate Change and International Lawyer, Melinda Janki, part of the anti-oil lobby, has filed legal actions in the courts against the Government of Guyana and the oil companies to try to prevent further oil exploration and exploitation.

As against this lobby are those who posit that Guyana is a poor country mired in poverty without any hope and possibility of accessing enough developmental capital to develop its non-oil resources and help its population to emerge out of poverty.  The exploitation of oil and gas resources is the only way Guyana could acquire enough capital to move out of poverty and to invest in present industries to expand them and make them more competitive and birth new ones.  In this way, Guyana’s economic prosperity would be secured well into the future.

These two positions are antithetical, but the majority opinion has come down on the side of the necessity of developing the Oil and Gas industry.

The Government of the country, the opposition, the private sector and public opinion in general support the oil industry.  They also point out that the oil-producing countries, especially those in the developed world, have no intention of ending or scaling back their oil industries and, whenever it is in their interest, pay scant regard to climate change.  Yet these same countries are the ones that lecture countries like Guyana.

In a recent newspaper interview, Dr. Hyginus Leon, President of the Caribbean Development Bank and the Bank’s Director of Projects Dr. Daniel Best stated the dilemma between preserving and protecting the environment and exploiting the oil resources diminishing poverty and raising the standard of living.

Dr. Leon remarked that “Guyana finds itself with a constraint internationally which says we need to reduce fossil fuels because of what it is doing to the planet. . . With over 11 billion barrels of oil discovered so far offshore, Guyana, over the past few years, has faced questions over its aggressive Oil production against the backdrop of being a champion of Environmental preservation. . .”  Dr. Leon’s advice is however very clear: “Where Guyana needs to go is very simple, it is to a point where the people of Guyana will have more prosperity than they had yesterday”.  Dr. Best reinforces Dr. Leon’s advice: Oil will create wealth in Guyana. Now, how can we turn that into a sustainable livelihood and form an alliance on renewable energy and Climate Change?   That is the crux of the matter.”

The Government of Guyana is very environment-conscious and committed to environmental protection. The lead Minister responsible for dealing with the oil and gas industry is Vice-President Dr. Bharat Jagdeo, a respected and honoured environmentalist, earning many accolades, among them being ‘Champion of the Earth’. They have accepted the challenge of successfully coalescing Environmental concerns with Oil and Gas production to make Guyana the only Oil-producing country where pollution of the environment is negated by several effective actions:

First, the oil companies are required by Law and agreements to take measures to protect the environment in their production process as far as is feasible.  For example, polluted water must be treated before release into the ocean or indiscriminate flaring must be avoided.

Then there is the gas-to-shore project, which will come into a stream in two years.  This project will cut down pollution by replacing the use of heavy fossil fuels with gas.  The burning of heavy fossil fuel is a major pollutant;   gas will produce cheaper electricity and its use would be more environmentally friendly than oil fuel.

The commitment to replacing fossil fuels with green power is a serious one, and work in this direction has already started with the use of Water Power, Solar Power, and Wind Power.  Several small generators in the Interior utilise the rivers to generate electricity, but the centrepiece of the Water Power programme is the Amaila Falls scheme.  The completion of the Amaila Falls scheme was delayed for several years by negative political action but it is now back again on stream.

Not only the Government but the Private sector as well have been investing in Solar and Wind power.  Several homes have been using solar power as well as businesses.

Demerara Bank, for example, uses solar power, which is more economical than fossil power.  Manufacturing businesses have also been using solar power, an example being Nand Persaud’s rice milling complex in Berbice,

Successful experiments have been conducted in the use of household and industrial waste to generate power and foreign specialist consultants have been engaged in developing this source of green power.

Last, and most importantly, the Guyana Forests counterbalance the pollution from Oil and Gas.  In the words of Dr. Leon, President of the Caribbean Development Bank:  “The fact is that Guyana is a huge net carbon sink given that its forests store 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon; even with the development of its Oil and Gas industry, the country remains a net zero contributor”.

The world must become aware of this fact since it will mute criticism that Guyana is a polluter of the planet and preclude it from being bracketed with other oil producing developing countries which unfortunately are indeed polluters.