The environment and energy

By Nadine Bushell 07.09.08

Member of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice

Energy is necessary for life. It is necessary for development. Many of the very simple things we do require energy, and the type of energy used often has an impact on the quality of life experience while engaging in these activities.

Energy inputs such as electricity and fuel are needed for agriculture, industrial activities, transportation, and business activities. Most foods required to meet our nutritional needs are cooked using some kind of fuel. Lighting is needed for children (and adults) to study.

In some countries, children particularly girls have to carry wood and water to meet family subsistence needs. In many cultures women have the primary responsibility for household cooking and water boiling activities.

Without modern fuels, stoves and mechanical power for food processing and transportation women often remain in drudgery. Infant mortality is affected by indoor air pollution related to the use of traditional fuels and stoves which can cause respiratory illnesses. Health care facilities, doctors and nurses need electricity for lighting, refrigeration and sterilisation in order to deliver effective health services.

Energy production, distribution and consumption all have many adverse effects on the local, regional and global environment, including indoor air pollution, land degradation, acid rain, and global warming. Cleaner energy systems are needed to address all of these to contribute to environmental sustainability. This area is of particular relevance to Trinidad and Tobago, since the mainstay of its economy is the petroleum and natural gas industry.

We see that energy is the centre of life. It affects all aspects of development -- social, economic, and environmental -- including livelihoods, access to water, agricultural productivity, health, population levels, education, and gender-related issues.

Energy and environment are essential for sustainable development. The poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable energy services.

It is therefore necessary for us to safeguard its use. Here in Trinidad and Tobago, it is therefore important for us to take responsibility by keeping abreast of the affects of industrialisation in our own country, and obtaining the necessary information to make and or encourage the making of informed decisions.

The recent discussions surrounding the aluminium smelter plants highlighted how many different considerations there were, the vast majority of which were related to environmental concerns including energy consumption.

“Particular attention will have to be reserved for the complex issues surrounding energy resources. Non-renewable resources, which highly-industrialised and recently-industrialised countries draw from, must be put at the service of all humanity.”

This means that the use of energy must not make the human being worse off; it should not contribute to ill health or poverty for example. Non-renewable energy is energy taken from "finite resources that will eventually dwindle, becoming too expensive or too environmentally damaging to retrieve for example coal, natural gas and oil/petroleum. Bearing this in mind it is important that their use be carefully monitored.

Figures from 2006 indicated that the use of non-renewable energy was higher than renewable energy which is generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, and rain, - which are naturally replenished.

Renewable energy technologies include solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity, micro hydro, biomass and biofuels. In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning.

With climate change concerns as well as high oil prices, there is a drive to encourage the use of renewable energy sources. Some countries, such as those in the European Union, reached an agreement to have at least 20 percent of their nations' energy produced from renewable fuels by 2020, as part of the EU’s drive to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, blamed in part for global warming.

“From a moral perspective based on equity and intergenerational solidarity, it will also be necessary to continue, through the contribution of the scientific community, to identify new sources of energy, develop alternative sources and increase the security levels of nuclear energy.”

These issues are also global and cannot be addressed by countries acting alone. “The use of energy, in the context of its relationship to development and the environment, calls for the political responsibility of States, the international community and economic actors. Such responsibility must be illuminated and guided by continual reference to the universal common good.”

Next week we look at the environment and indigenous peoples.

Quotations in these articles are from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Persons interested in purchasing a copy of the Compendium can contact the Justice Desk, Archbishop’s House at 622-6680. Also on sale at the Justice Desk are the Take a Bite Social Justice Programme on DVD and the Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching.

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