{"id":243354,"date":"2023-02-05T18:00:26","date_gmt":"2023-02-05T17:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=243354"},"modified":"2023-02-05T18:00:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-05T17:00:32","slug":"the-lefts-climate-imperialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=243354","title":{"rendered":"The Left\u2019s Climate Imperialism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last October, the U.S. climate envoy John Kerry\u00a0suggested<\/a>\u00a0that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should abandon some oil blocks that it had put up for auction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, for the people of the DRC \u2014 some of the poorest in the world \u2014 this could mean more years of pollution and ill-health from dirty cooking fuels such as charcoal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century climate imperialism in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate Imperialism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A prominent form of modern slavery is climate imperialism, or eco-colonialism, wherein restrictive energy policies conceived and promoted by politicians in Western economies are forced on some of the world\u2019s poorest. Though branded as environmentally friendly, these outlandish policies deny economic growth to those who most need it in Africa\u2019s poorest countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the World Bank, in 2019, over 41% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa lived in extreme poverty. Poor households in Africa often lack access to necessities such as clean water, electricity, cooking fuel and health care. The region\u2019s weak economy coupled with poor infrastructure impedes access to education and job opportunities, further exacerbating poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The West\u2019s war on fossil fuels, which is being promoted with draconian polices in developing countries, adds to the obstacles of overcoming this deprivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DRC\u2019s Charcoal Problem<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the DRC,  over 63% of the population \u2014 around 60 million people \u2014 live in extreme poverty, on less than $2.15 a day<\/a>. Only 23% of the population has access to electricity. And one of the biggest threats to health is the country\u2019s dependence on dirty cooking fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 90% of DRC citizens cook with charcoal, whose smokey indoor emissions are a major health concern. In addition, use of charcoal requires people \u2014 usually girls and women \u2014 to forage for wood, robbing them of valuable time that could be spent on education and acquiring more economically valuable skills. In the DRC, wood cut for charcoal sometimes exceeds quantities taken by loggers, contributing to deforestation of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A solution to the overreliance on charcoal is the gas stove, which lately has been vilified by climate warriors claiming with no scientific basis that the emissions of burning gas are hazardous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooking gas replaces fuels such as charcoal, wood, coal and dung, all of which contribute to indoor air pollution \u2014 estimated to cause 4.3 million premature deaths annually across the globe. When cooking gas is burned, the emissions are water vapor and carbon dioxide, both of which are harmless<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imperialism, An Obstruction To Gas Stoves And Gas Production <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DRC government is pursuing policies to make oil and gas more affordable to its population and boost the economy. Last year, 30 oil and gas blocks went up for auction. The move drew sharp criticism from various quarters, including the U.S. administration hostile to fossil fuels, the UN and highly funded mainstream media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curbing DRC\u2019s oil and gas production would disrupt a legitimate path to safe and prosperous living, which every other developing country in the world is pursuing \u2014 that is, a transition from dirty charcoal to clean and safe gas stoves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transitioning to gas is a well-established international policy directive of many bodies like the World Bank. In 2022, the bank\u2019s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program announced<\/a> a $500 million investment for a clean cooking fund in developing nations. Many Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Myanmar have immensely benefitted from such efforts. Today more than one billion people<\/a> in India alone use gas stoves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efforts to restrict the production or use of fossil fuels serve to increase the prices of these exceedingly useful energy sources, making them less available to those who need them most. In the DRC\u2019s case, carbon imperialism has taken the route of making the Congolese people remain in abject poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governments of developing countries that yield to the pressures of climate imperialism \u2014 whether to abandon coal-fired power plants or prohibit the use of gas cook stoves \u2014 ill serve their people. So far, the DRC government has resisted this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DRC government should follow the examples of Asian countries that have committed to providing their people with access to plentiful and economically priced fossil fuels. Otherwise, the misery of poverty, including smokey kitchens, could be the lot of the Congolese for a long time to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commentary was first published at Daily Caller<\/a>, February 3, 2023, and can be accessed here<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vijay Jayaraj<\/a> is a Research Associate at the <\/em>CO2 Coalition<\/em><\/a>, Arlington, Virginia. He holds a master\u2019s degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, UK and resides in India.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last October, the U.S. climate envoy John Kerry\u00a0suggested\u00a0that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should abandon some oil blocks that it had put up for auction. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":243359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243354","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-193.png?fit=1209%2C907&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-11j4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":363233,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363233","url_meta":{"origin":243354,"position":0},"title":"Sadly, Add World Health Organization (WHO) to your List of Dishonest Climate Crisis Propagandists.","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"24\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The WHO Deputy Director-General\u2019s press conference recently claimed climate change is causing \"many, many diseases\", including Mpox, Marburg and Ebola, to accelerate in terms of their emergence. \"It's been driven by climate change, driven by droughts and floods.\"","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Gh6yxvtbUAEGpWt.jpeg?fit=1200%2C941&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Gh6yxvtbUAEGpWt.jpeg?fit=1200%2C941&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Gh6yxvtbUAEGpWt.jpeg?fit=1200%2C941&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Gh6yxvtbUAEGpWt.jpeg?fit=1200%2C941&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Gh6yxvtbUAEGpWt.jpeg?fit=1200%2C941&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":185655,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=185655","url_meta":{"origin":243354,"position":1},"title":"Cobalt Blues: Derisking the Global Supply Chain for a Critical Mineral","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/02\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Cobalt is ubiquitous: it is found in combination with other elements\u2014including nickel, copper, and iron\u2014virtually everywhere.\u00a0 Cobalt\u2019s primary applications are industrial: its resistance to extreme temperatures, corrosion, and wear make its superalloys useful for everything from jet engines to prosthetic implants. 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