“And those persons who . . . believe that they can jump behind a Facebook page or behind Twitter . . . and cast these aspersions on the Government’s programme, come out from hiding, come out and show your face…” – Minister of the Environment Dr Denis Lowe, speaking in Parliament last week, as reported in the NATION, February 10. 2016
ANYTIME the Dolittle administration gets challenged it always tries to dodge the issue by pointing fingers at something the previous administration did that was supposedly worse.
But they have run out of them, at least as far as the Cahill Energy waste-to-energy plan goes. That’s why Dr Denis Lowe, probably realising his effort to divert attention from the $700 million that will be allegedly be spent by so-far unannounced (perhaps unsourced?) investors and which will have to be repaid with interest, sought to belittle critics of the project last week.
Perhaps if he called up a psychic he would be told that nobody is impressed by his outdated tactics. I don’t know who may be hiding from the goodly minister, but I certainly am not. Lowe, my picture is on this page.
Another thing rhetorical geniuses like to do is set up a policy framework which nobody can disagree with and then suggest that criticism of the specifics, the proposed rollout of the solution, equates to criticism of the policy. For example, said Lowe, ”We are comfortable and we are resolved that treating waste and converting it to energy is the way of the future, we are settled on that, that is a policy of this Government.”
How it is to be done, and whether the side effects of its implementation might, say, cause serious environmental harm to this country does not seem to bother the Minister of the Environment, because he won’t even discuss the concerns raised over the potential dangers of the gasification process.
In fact, he said: “Anytime you have a question about Cahill, let the preceding question be one of Greenland,” pointing to one of the Arthur administration’s most controversial projects. Memo to Lowe: At no time was there ever a plan to put a machine at Greenland which would burn garbage at temperatures hotter than the sun, using technology which has had a poor track record using municipal waste in its feedstock.
But whether Lowe chooses to answer questions about Cahill or not, it is a fact that gasification projects remain troubled, unproven and controversial.
Here are two recent examples: First, half of the biggest gasification project in the world has been “temporarily” shut down and workers sent home. I refer, of course to the second gasifier at Teeside in Britain. Both gasification plants there are being supplied by Alter NRG, the company which will be supplying Barbados with its gasification plant.
And second, there’s an even more recent story coming out of Hamilton, Ontario, where another gasification plant (although not being supplied by Alter NRG) has been halted pending an independent review.
According to a story on the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s website, dated January 30, 2016: “A consultant’s report to the city warns that the potential environmental impacts of the proposed gasification waste-to-energy plant for Pier 15 ‘may not have been appropriately assessed.’”
WSP Canada, hired by the city to review the environmental screening report produced by the Port Fuels and Materials Services, Inc., recommends the city perform a detailed review of the proposal to find out whether environmentally, “sufficient monitoring and/or mitigation measures have been identified.”
But, instead of taking public concerns seriously and answering them, Lowe takes the easy road, which is just trashing his critics.
Patrick Hoyos is a journalist and publisher specialising in business. Email [email protected]
