The silence of the decarbonisation lobby at the urgent call for the restoration of the Sapref refinery is ironic and hopefully marks a turning point in what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has aptly dismissed as their “discredited fantasy.”
Military action in the Persian Gulf has ignited the importance of oil to every aspect of life, especially economics. The scenario of the disruptive effect of limited oil supplies at horrendous prices on economies, industries, travel and transport, is exactly what would be the case if the decarbonisation maniacs dogmatically imposed their green energy fantasy.
Deaf to the reality that fossil fuels have nothing to do with climate change, as proven by science and historical records cataloguing cooling and warming periods over millennia, those responsible for closing Sapref refinery and obstructing oil and gas projects have a lot to answer for.
The Mercury’s editorial of March 23 makes very pertinent points on the subject: by closing SAPREF, the green lobby has outsourced our petroleum needs to foreign suppliers; through persistent litigation, oil and gas development projects have been stymied. In that respect, the green lobby has arrogated to itself stewardship over the economy. “It is paralysis dressed up as principle.” Absolutely!
Unfortunately, the green maniacs have inveigled their way into the presidency as well. At the taxpayers’ expense, the Presidential Climate Change Commission has assiduously promoted the fantasy target of total decarbonisation by 2050.
It has been afforded acres of space in the media to propagate its unscientific fantasy of a so-called “just transition,” evading and ignoring incontrovertible evidence and argument to the contrary. As argued previously in these columns, the Commission should be abolished.
The idea that there is a man-made “climate crisis” is false. Climate change is a natural phenomenon influenced by solar variations as well as the varying elliptical paths of the Earth as it orbits the sun and slight variations in the tilt of the Earth. As such, climate change is God-ordained and as normal as day and night.
In contrast with the sudden realization that the closure of Sapref refinery was ill-advised and harmful to our economic sovereignty, it was refreshing to note that Namibia is sensibly determined to proceed with the exploitation of the oil and gas bonanza off its coast.
Overall, the restoration of the SAPREF refinery promises significant implications. One would be the stance of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance decarbonisation lobby. It was a prime motivator in closing Sapref, which cost hundreds of local residents their jobs. What motivation will it propagate to justify the restoration of those jobs?
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