A personal and vile attack meted out to Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, SC, by Opposition spokesperson and former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Vincent Adams has not gone unnoticed, and equally alarming is the silence of civil society.
Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday drew attention to Dr Adams’ comments which were delivered following the Chief Justice’s recent ruling on flaring by ExxonMobil at a press conference hosted by the opposition.
During his ranting, Dr Adams who seemed upset that the ruling was not in his favour, accused Justice George of lack of knowledge, hiding under a rock, and defying science and common sense.
“Such consequential decisions as this one clearly defies science, logic and common sense.
“I can go on all day about the flaws in the honorable judge’s decision,” Dr Adams said.
Jagdeo believes these comments amount to a most vile and personal attack on the CJ.
“If someone from PPP, the Attorney General or any person had said this, the entire media would be in uproar, civil society would be calling for the person’s head or they would be dragged before the court for contempt,” Jagdeo said at the party press conference on Thursday.
The Vice President reasoned that under no circumstance should Dr Adams be granted a free pass.
“Besides defying the established science, one has to be hiding under a rock to say that 20+ bscf is not harmful to the environment.
“Haven’t the Judge heard about climate change and the energy policies developed globally to cut back on gas emissions that affects climate change?
“Similarly, doesn’t the honorable Judge know that all of the major oil companies, including Exxon have accepted that gas emissions are harmful to the environment and committed to cut back on such emissions?” Dr Adams quizzed.
But Jagdeo also feels that Dr Adams is not rightly positioned to comment on these matters.
He said apart from Adams’ short political stint at the EPA, he has no experience in environmental matters.
“He is an AFC member they took and put to head the EPA.
“He made a mess of some of the licenses there and came out and suddenly they are reborn, the smartest people in the world they have an opinion on everything.
“I don’t begrudge him, he can talk as much as he wants until he turns blue. He is a Guyanese he can do that and it is a free country,” Jagdeo added.
He said what must be addressed is an apparent duplicity in the media and the “so-called civil society.”
