Dear Editor,
I write with reference to a letter by Gary Girdhari in which numerous personal attacks are levelled against me (Stabroek News, 11/2/2023). I feel compelled to insist that my reply be carried in full.
But even more importantly Editor, I will insist that my critique of Melinda Janki be allowed to get the audience that both Janki and Gary Girdhari get so nonchalantly.
Editor, allow me to pose a few questions to Ms. Janki directly. My question to Janki is this – can you state with clarity which countries in the world over the past one hundred years have contributed most to greenhouse gas emissions, and especially to CO 2? Could you say something about the current top producers of fossil fuels, and also the top countries that consume fossil fuels? Let us work with the available data. And now a final question – why are you picking on a small country that has a comprehensive green-economy strategy (our LCDS), rather than say Canada, which is now building a pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia to ship some of the most toxic (tar sands) products in the world energy supply?
Let me share some relevant data. Here is the per capita motor vehicles for selected countries – USA 890; New Zealand 884; Canada 790; Finland 790, Australia 782, France 668; Guyana 285; Haiti 11. 35 of the top 40 per capita motor vehicles in the world are in the developed world. Transportation sources contribute 27 per cent of greenhouse emissions.
Meat consumption for selected countries per annum– Portugal 153 kg; USA 151 kg; Spain 148 kg; Japan 97 kg; Guyana 51 kg; India 12 kg; Ethiopia 7.3 kg. Meat consumption contributes about 15% of greenhouse gases, and readers should know that while the Third World countries consume about 27 kgs of meat per annum, the developed world eats 70 kgs.
We can take other quality of life indicators such as air conditioning to see who is doing the damage worldwide. The extremes could not be more staggering here. 91 per cent of households in Japan and 90 per cent in the US have AC, compared to 6 per cent and 5 per cent for South Africa and India, respectively.
The US and Canada produce nearly 25 millions barrels of oil daily, while Guyana produces a little over 350,000 barrels. May I also remind Ms Janki that the US only recently authorized drilling for oil in the Alaskan Tundra, and also gave a license to Trinidad and Tobago to develop a major gas field in Venezuelan waters (Reuters, 24/1/2023).
Since developed nations are responsible for 79 per cent of the historical carbon emissions, Ms. Janki must make a case based on ethics as to why the same developed nations and their energy allies must be allowed to hold a monopoly of hydrocarbon development. Ms. Janki should be campaigning against the world’s biggest polluters, who also happen to be the richest. Anything short will leave her so called activism against developing nations like Guyana wanting.
Gary Girdhari made some nasty comments about my career in academia, and I have a right of reply. Gary, in 2022, scholars and students from 359 universities in 91 countries read my work. Thousands of pages were read, and hundreds downloaded. According to Academia.edu I am in the top 1 per cent from their nearly four millions subscribers. I can send proof to anyone who cares.
Sincerely,
Dr. Randolph Persaud
