"Don't alarm people or they will switch off" is the staid and cautionary advice to environmental journalists - not easy to follow when faced with the many challenges ahead.
At times of crisis we may choose to snatch at rays of sunshine. It really is crucial to keep a positive perspective, or hope trips up. Then we fall into the abyss of inertia, apathy and fleeting illusion.
Decommissioning of emergency numbers for environmental incidents is not the only thing that happens quietly. It was a pleasant surprise, while hunting for an oil-spill response phone number on the Castille website, to find some ministerial initiatives quietly humming away on the side.
The revelation in The Sunday Times that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority had quietly suspended its oil pollution response service sent us reeling. In an attempt to cheer us up, here are some green ministerial actions listed by the Office of the Prime Minister. Many of them are simple things you could try at home:
Painting the roof white to cool the building, using solar film on windows hit by direct sunlight, and cutting down on the use of paper by e-mailing documents are all basic recommended green conduct. Nothing to shout about really, as all government buildings should be taking these simple steps.
The administrative blocks at Marsa and Delimara power stations have between them a total of 350 windows exposed to direct sunlight. Retro-fitting solar film will help cut down on electricity used for air-conditioning - an example for other large public buildings to follow.
The government's information technology agency, now known as MITA, has removed 90 per cent of all printers and installed centrally-controlled and monitored photocopiers to cut down on unnecessary paper use. Largely unused, energy-guzzling water heaters in bathrooms and restrooms were disconnected. Solar-heated showers were installed for employees who were encouraged to make use of the bicycle racks in the car park.
What used to be car-free day has been taken over by European Mobility Week. This was celebrated quietly last week in a public garden in St Julian's. Few people were aware of the event. The theme this year is 'Improving City Climates'.
Cutting down of trees in Valletta to replace them with thirsty potted dwarfs is hardly in line with this theme. The new car park in Rabat, which could have benefited from some shade trees interspersed between parking spaces, awaits a similar contract-friendly fate.
At a consultation held earlier this month the chairman of our national committee on climate change called for entities such as Enemalta, the Water Services Corporation, the Malta Transport Authority and others to identify their own policy on climate change with cohesion across the board.
Steering climate negotiations at international level, Michael Zammit Cutajar spoke of the need for a global transition to a low- or no-carbon economy. This will require "transformation - a change in the way we value our lives and our lifestyle".
Climate change can be dangerous if temperatures soar to high. "The path to safety is affordable," affirms Dr Zammit Cutajar, condoning a reduction in growth, over the next 20 years, of up to two per cent. "Simple energy-saving and avoidance of waste can make an enormous contribution."
Environment organisations are gearing up for the Copenhagen meeting that will decide the fate of the earth. Friends of the Earth insists that the rich industrialised countries, which have historically emitted the most greenhouse gases, must agree to urgent and dramatic cuts in their emissions. China has just surpassed America in the amount of carbon it produces but is still not as high per capita as the US.
"Techies, geeks and activists around the world" are invited by Greenpeace to fight climate change in a game called Cool IT. In the real world, Greenpeace is battling the opening up of Canadian tar sands to squeeze more oil out of the ground.
Getting back to the oil pollution response number for Malta... an oil pollution response module was set up by the former minister for tourism to tackle small spills threatening beaches. Today, that phone number rings unanswered with no recorded message or redirection to other numbers.
At a workshop in Marseille last May, Malta actually featured in an exercise intended to address cooperation and preparedness to respond to oil spills in the Mediterranean.
The international federation of tanker owners (ITOPF) pollution website profiles the responsible authorities for Malta as the Pollution Control and Co-ordinating Unit and the maritime authority, with their telephone numbers listed.
The prescribed response policy for large spills at sea is to immediately contact the Malta Maritime Authority, which in turn should contact the pollution unit.
A decision on how to respond to an oil spill can be taken by any competent minister for ports, environment or foreign affairs or the parliamentary secretaries of these ministries.
Dialling each of the 10 Malta emergency numbers given on the website on a Saturday morning to verify which ones are actually effective was a futile exercise: Two were continuously engaged and the others rang unanswered, with one screaming fax machine at the end of the line - but no one to talk to.
They might as well issue a joint statement calling for oil spills to be postponed until after a holiday weekend.