On Friday last, millions of people around the world watched aghast as the news and social media proliferated with photos and videos of what was virally proclaimed as an “eye of fire” burning in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a fact that water is used to put out fire, yet, there it was, a rough oval of flames burning on the ocean’s surface, close to a rig belonging to Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex. It all appeared so surreal; the blaze surrounded by three vessels which pumped water from the ocean in an attempt to control the conflagration.
The fire, which burned for just over five hours, was reported to have been caused by a leak in an underwater gas pipeline. There were no known human fatalities or injuries, but damage to marine life and the environment will perhaps take a while to be realised, which made the memes that emerged on Twitter after the immediate danger had passed not quite so funny.
Friday’s incident was not the first of its kind. In 2012, an explosion on a rig owned by US multinational oil and gas corporation Chevron resulted in a 40-metre wide fire, also on the Atlantic Ocean, but this time off the coast of Nigeria. The cause cited was a major build up of gas from drilling the ocean bed. On this occasion, the rig had burned and the fire which had been left to burn itself out, lasted for 46 days.
Climate change has long been making itself known by the rise in the number of devastating fires in the earth’s forests over the years, aided of course by human indifference, wilful complicity and irresponsibility. Obviously not satisfied with the burning of the earth’s lungs, driven by greed and profits mankind is also setting the oceans ablaze. That this folly is adding to the poison of pollution by, among the human detritus discarded, the throwaway plastics still being manufactured from petroleum, is a cruel and vicious irony.
The link between fossil fuels and the world’s climate crisis has been well established and can no longer be denied. It is therefore a paradox of massive proportions that Guyana can tout itself as being committed to becoming a green economy, while actively pursuing the exploitation of fossil fuel. Like oil and water, the two do not mix and can never be aligned. Yet, many Guya-nese turn a blind eye to this, perhaps because they have allowed themselves to be seduced by the promise of great wealth from oil, though there is no guarantee that this will ever occur.
There are several companies involved in oil exploitation in Guyana, none of which are local, with American multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil being the major player. If we are to call a spade a spade, it would be fair to say that ExxonMobil is in the business of growing its profits, nothing more, nothing less. It is among the big oil companies that have been sued by the US states of Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Connecticut as well as the District of Columbia, over claims that, among other things, it systematically and intentionally misled consumers about the central role its oil and gas products play in causing climate change. To date, only New York’s suit has been completed, with a judge finding that Exxon had not misled its investors.
Just over a week ago, the UK’s Channel Four aired footage obtained by Unearthed, Greenpeace UK’s investigative platform, of Exxon’s senior lobbyists at the US Congress, during both the previous administration and the current one, claiming that the company had “aggressively fought science to deny climate change in order to maximise profit and shareholder return”, and boasting about wins scored during the Donald Trump presidency, particularly with regard to permits and the reduction of the corporate tax rate, among other things. Exxon’s CEO Darren Woods said the lobbyists were tricked into speaking on video by Greenpeace, but denied that their comments represented the company’s policy on climate issues.
Exxon claims that it is committed to working to mitigate climate change and that it has spent billions of dollars on technologies to reduce emissions. This is high-level obfuscation and should not detract from two facts: firstly is that at its core Exxon’s business contributes to climate change, and secondly, all the money in the world cannot buy back the environment once it is damaged beyond repair.
Guyana’s recent problems with Exxon over gas flaring also belie the company’s so-called commitment to the environment, although government officials were also complicit in this illegality. Earlier this year, attempts to cloud the issue regarding how much flaring was allowed, by both Exxon and Guyana government officials, failed in the face of the facts contained in the company’s production permit. However, the practice continues. Strange isn’t it, when all Exxon needs to do to signal its commitment to not harming the environment is to institute an alternative to flaring. But then again, alternatives can be costly.
There is an old creolese saying in Guyana, “hint to Beniba mek Quashiba tek notice”, which loosely translated means one person can learn from another’s error. The trouble is that there seems to be no Quashibas around anymore. The hints are no longer pebble-sized, but boulder-like and still we choose to ignore them. This travesty is almost like a modern-day take on “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and does not bode well for posterity.
