President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, sat down for an interview recently with BBC propagandist Stephen Sackur, who took the occasion to begin a long-winded and predictable scolding on Climate Change™ grounds in the context of Guyana’s extensive and yet largely untapped oil reserves.
Related: Study: The Science™ Pins Climate Change™ on Human Breathing
It didn’t go as planned for BBC Stephen.
Via The Telegraph (emphasis added):
The president of an oil-rich South American country has scolded a BBC reporter for “lecturing” his nation over climate change.
Irfaan Ali of Guyana sat down with host Stephen Sackur of the BBC HardTalk show for an interview that has now gone viral.
The country has seen a rapid growth in its oil reserves over the past decade. But Mr Sackur was quick to challenge the president on the potential environmental impact of this industry.
He said: “Over the next decade or two, it’s expected that there will be $150 billion worth of oil and gas extracted off your coast.
“It’s an extraordinary figure. But think of it in practical terms. That means – according to many experts – two billion tons of carbon emissions will come from your seabed from those reserves and released into the atmosphere.”
But the 43-year-old head of state was quick to jump in with a rebuttal.
It is at this moment that Sackur was knocked with extreme prejudice off of his high horse, and the rhetorical destruction of the state media toolbag commenced in earnest.
Continuing:
“Let me stop you right there,” he said. “Did you know that Guyana has a forest that is the size of England and Scotland combined, a forest that stores 19.5 gigatons of carbon, a forest that we have kept alive?”
Guyana sits on the northern coast of the South American continent, bordered by Venezuela to the west, Suriname to the east and Brazil to the south. Much of the country’s landmass is covered by the Amazon rainforest.
When the reporter asked Mr Ali whether the rainforest gave him the “right” to release the carbon, the Guyanese leader retorted: “Does that give you the right to lecture us on climate change?
“I’m going to lecture you on climate change. Because we have kept this forest alive that you enjoy that the world enjoys, that you don’t pay us for, that you don’t value.
“Guess what? We have the lowest deforestation rate in the world. And guess what? Even with the greatest exploration of oil and gas we will still be net zero.”
The BBC has shown itself to be very, very bad at condescending to Latin American leaders on various pet projects of the multinational corporate state, probably because they are so well-accustomed to having nominal leaders of Western countries (except Trump) grovel and cower when confronted that they’ve gotten complacent in their approach.
Related: El Salvador President Empties Rhetorical Clip on Hostile BBC Reporter
It is at this time that the BBC cuckold attempts to regain control of the conversation, to no avail.
Continuing via The Telegraph:
Mr Sackur noted his words were “powerful” and tried to jump back in, but the president did not allow the interruption.
“This is the hypocrisy that exists in the world,” he said. “The world in the last 50 years has lost 65 per cent of the biodiversity. We have kept ours.”
(The glorious, savory exchange begins at 4:09)
Whether Guyana has retained its forests and maintained the lowest deforestation rate in the world is due to underdevelopment or intentional environmental policy is immaterial; if “net zero” is the ostensible goal, BBC Stephen is in no position to lecture the president on the exploitation of his country’s oil reserves.
