Pollutant

ILOILO CITY- The American speaker who I mentioned in the preceding article entitled “Disaster” continued lashing at the “unpreparedness” of people in the countries severely affected by natural disasters. He did this while announcing his credentials being a global expert in disaster risk management for 38 years now.

Right after the foreigner wrapped up his more than 30-minute talk, the lady moderator asked for comments and questions from us-- the audience who have been tightly squeezed inside the congested hall. In a matter of seconds, former Sen. Heherson Alvarez of  Climate Change Commission stood up and announced his admiration to the speaker.

But before his admiration could sink in, his tone immediately twisted to emphatically criticize the first world’s huge emission of carbon dioxide that is primarily responsible for the excessive warming of the earth, melting glaciers and eventually causing the irregular increase of water levels at a global scale.

“You should reduce your emission if you are genuinely concerned of abetting future mega disasters,” was in effect what Alvarez wanted to tell the speaker who seemed to overlook the real causes of the natural tragedies  that hit several places of the world. First world’s carbon emission is placed at 80 percent while 20 percent is shared by second world and third world countries, according to Alvarez's figures.   

This line of Alvarez reminded me of the article I read from the Internationalist magazine while I was still inside prison in 2010. The article, which title I forget now, analyzed which contributed how much to global warming. It argued that it is the first world particularly its giant corporations that are truly responsible in the destruction of the earth’s ecological balance at its present horrendous proportion in pursuit of profit.

With this level of culpability, the first world should lead in the rehabilitation efforts for mother earth, the article further noted.  As response to the challenge,  first world  governments are giving incentives to companies that meet carbon emission standards, among others.

 This effort and other similar regulations are laudable.

But what we need is more than carbon emission regulation. What we need is the protection of the remaining resources we have from being continually exploited  and the restoration of those that have been ravaged in the name of profit.

I wonder if  environmental rehabilitation and protection can go hand in hand with the Capital’s inherent drive for super profits. I learned that  no matter what the costs could be, Capital is innately willing to go as long as huge profit  is assured.