Global Warming Scare and the Rising Prices of Commodities

Man-made global warming scare sponsored by UN-IPCC will exacerbate further the development of poor countries. Non-governmental organization, their partner disguised as environmentalist, are blocking the construction of power plants which do not conform to their planned agenda.

 

An instance is the Philippines which had just recovered from the pestering brown-out and power shortage a few years ago. With the improvements of its economy, power shortages are again being perceived as a threat in the coming years. Its mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, a Westinghouse light water reactor and considered as the latest in Asia, is being considered for rehabilitation at a cost of $800 million according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. It was completed in l984 at a cost of $2.3 billion and should have been supplying 621 MW of clean source of energy but was never commissioned and failed to deliver any. The so-called international environmentalist succeeded in stopping its operation by agitating the local groups in its campaign of environmental degradation. President Corazon Aquino banned the nuclear plant after the EDSA Revolution through the revised constitution. We should have been reaping the benefits of the nuclear plant, but instead, we lost millions of dollar thereby compounding the hardships and wasted the people’s taxes.

 

The Arroyo government is bent on establishing additional power supply to sustain its economic growth. More provinces are facing the energy problems. Western Visayas alone requires 116 megawatt this year and more are needed in the succeeding years.

 

A coal power plant has been scheduled to be built in Iloilo City. It is one power source being questioned and hated today because of the pollution it will be dumping in the atmosphere. But the skyrocketing price of oil is driving poor nation to embrace this source. There is no other option that can be tapped immediately. Our nuclear power plant requires eight years more or less to be restored. The only alternative favouring the Philippines is coal-fired plant where the source of fuel supply is locally abundant. Geothermal and hydroelectric plants, also available in the locality, are time consuming undertakings and may not fit as a prompt solution with the situation the country is in now. Solar energy and liquefied petroleum gas power plants are next in line in the priority action plan of the local government. Wind power, although a clean source of renewable energy and can be harnessed anywhere in the island, will take 5 to 6 years to complete as the availability of turbines are not enough –orders have lined-up as many nations have switched to these renewable sources. Marine power technology is another source to be considered but it is still in its infant stage in the country although this renewable and sustainable supply can be easily exploited within the archipelagic baselines of the island. A UK-based pioneering marine power company and had invested in the marine current turbines in Ireland, as per June 7 Reuters report, may be employed and be benefited in its expertise in the technology. These are all options the country can adopt in the near future.

 

However, as the expediency of the immediate energy supply is hounding the nation, the coal power plant is considered the best means to solve her woes. On the other hand, Greenpeace is blocking the government initiative to sustain the power supply in its “quit coal” policy.

 

The unabated increases in the prices of commodities were inspired by these global warming barking groups. If their campaign will not be controlled, these alarmists will continue to diffuse havocs and anxieties on poor nation’s economy. Their scare campaigns are leading the miseries the world is suffering today. Their actions are the consequences of the following crises: 1) Global oil price increases; 2) World rice shortage and food riots; 3) Skyrocketing food prices; 4) Air plane transport crisis; 5) Striking workers and lay-offs; and 6) Depleting food land converted to bio-fuel plantations. All these have a domino effect down to the cost of the last peanut in the cornerstore.

 

People should now think of the maladies being experienced today. Don’t blame the climate, environment, and nature as the causes of our hardships. Blame the people using nature in advancing their interest and greed.