Journey continues towards a green economy

Efforts remain in train to make Barbados the most advanced green economy in the Western Hemisphere.

That’s the assurance coming from Prime Minister the Right Honourable Freundel Stuart. Piloting the debate on the Offshore Petroleum (Amendment) Bill in the House of Assembly yesterday morning, the Prime Minister maintained that the Administration, which he leads, is committed to creating “a judicious mix” between the use of fossil fuels and renewable energy in pursuit of that goal. He made the point while reflecting on the several initiatives being undertaken to achieve that, among them the Smart Energy programmes in both the private and public sectors which, he said, are geared towards ensuring that renewable energy becomes the first port of call in creating the green economy in Barbados.

Stuart’s comments came as he noted that while many countries like ours may be tempted to relax their efforts relative to the pursuit of renewable energy initiatives, now that the price of oil has come down, the volatility of the oil market necessitates that they do not. As such, he told the Lower House that Barbados does not intend to drop the ball on developing its renewable energy sector and advancing its energy options.

“Barbados is not going to be caught like the five foolish virgins without oil in our lamps – oil no pun intended – if oil prices spiral upwards again and we have to go through what we went through in 2012 when in one year we had to spend nearly a billion, the equivalent of a billion Barbados dollars on the importation of fossil fuels. There are other things that we have to do with what revenues and what foreign exchange we earn and therefore we have to make sure that we use sensibly, thoughtfully and circumspectly the resources we have at our disposal; resources that are always scarce,” he said.

With that in mind, the PM maintained that Government’s energy policy is very clear. He said the aim is to conserve, practice energy efficiency methods and move “sure-footedly” to the use of renewable energy.

“We ask the House and ask the country to be cognisant of the connection, the organic and necessary connection, between the resources in our blue economy and our idea of creating a green economy here in Barbados… Households, businesses and the Government all should not relax making their contribution to the achievement of these very important objectives,” he stated. (JRT)