To reap a whirlwind

It is now official. A surcharge of 95 per cent as the international price of crude oil escalates as never before. Opinions as to why this is happening differ radically however I am sure that it is no surprise to anyone least of all the government which like all others has been waiting in trepidation wondering how to present this awful social burden to the public. Other governments around the world have managed to do far more to substitute fossil fuel energy with the so-called alternative sources than ours has. This is why the surcharge, that psychologically may fool some into thinking that it may one day go away, is doubly galling. Perplexingly, Minister Austin Gatt was quick to assure us that alternative energy is more expensive to produce than fossil fuel energy and that our only hope would be to latch on to a nuclear pipeline from Sicily.

To say that we are exasperated is an understatement. Announcing an increase in consumption tariffs in the middle of a horrible heat wave was not amusing as one wondered whether or not to switch on the air conditioners that today are found in the majority of Maltese households. Much as I tried to resist the torrid heat got to me in the end and the remote's buttons were frantically pressed as, sweltering, I gasped for cool and conditioned air.

The writing has been on the wall ever since Bin Laden masterminded the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in 2001. That changed the world completely and utterly. The invasions of Afghanistan and the still controversial occupation of Iraq have solved nothing and the War on Terror has merely become a War of Terror as terrorism in all its ugliest forms have become so frequent and commonplace that we barely lift an eyebrow as every day, sure as eggs are eggs ad nauseam, yet another suicide bom-ber wreaks havoc in Tel Aviv, Beirut, Kabul or Baghdad. The price of this war is phenomenal. After almost five years the promised contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanis-tan are still pies in the sky.

The measures to reduce dependence on fossil fuel should have started ages ago and should have merely intensified after 2001. But instead we have George Debono on his bicycle arriving at Castille with the energy-reduction proposal dangling off his handlebars in a plastic bag being taken for a terrorist by an officious policeman who simply could not believe that someone keeping an appointment with the Prime Minister was not disgorged out of a chauffeur-driven limo but had, as an example to us all, pedalled from St Julians! Dr Debono has been practising what he preaches for many years and it is only now when alarm-bells are ringing and clanging loud and clear that the general perception of him is being altered from eccentric to visionary despite Dr Gatt's declaration about the expense of alternative energy!

How on earth are we all going to cope in future? A future that is anything but remote. Most of us depend on electricity for our most insignificant needs. Homes that were built since the invention of concrete and aluminium are today an ecological tragedy when compared to those built by our frugal ancestors with double sandwiched walls and heavy wooden slatted shutters to insulate against heat and cold. Today, we live in potential ovens and fridges totally unable to function without artificial climactic additives! And that's just the tip of the melting iceberg which brings me to the other factor that has blighted our lives and will, unless a miracle happens, change the face of the earth sooner than we know it.

Global warming coupled by the irresponsibility of those whose greed has brought nothing but grief and catastrophe to the world, is a threat that will soon eclipse all others.

I am unable to conceive how our government, which at the end of the day runs a country a quarter of the size of Manchester, could not have had the foresight and wherewithal to run Malta on alternative or nuclear energy. We are lashed by high winds for most of the year and blistered by the sun for even longer.

These questionably free sources of energy in 2008 remain un-tapped and unharnessed and the only thing we have had is this blessed surcharge playing snakes and ladders along with a vague promise that a wind farm will soon be in the offing.

And, may I ask, will I be paying for the 30,000 families that are exempt from the surcharge? It was 17,000 at the last count. Is this social justice gone berserk? One merely needs to pay a visit to the nearest government housing estate to see air-conditioning units by the dozen.

Do we realise that we are facing a crisis? I read that the gonzipn is still ignoring offers of help and cooperation from the reformed opposition and its spanking new leader. I wonder why!

The crisis that we will be inevitably facing is a national one and unless remedial action is taken immediately the Maltese economy is going to be des-troyed, utterly and totally.

kzt@onvol.net