“Eid Mubarak from K-Electric!”
KARACHI: The heat this Eid was excruciating and agonising. Although everyone patiently looked forward to the holiday season, the weather was unquestionably painful. Makeup was smeared and oily, new clothes drenched in sweat. Outside of the air conditioning, which many do not have the luxury of, everything was generally unpleasant. This was exacerbated by frequent power outages throughout Eid. It was almost like a cruel joke. Every time the lights went out, my brother exclaimed, “Eid Mubarak from K-Electric!”
I think it’s quite troublesome that the occurrence of heatwave has become common in Pakistan. It seems like we have been hearing about the topic of climate change a lot more in the media these days, however, there is not much being done about it, especially not in our context. For starters, what can you, just one concerned person, do about global warming? Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables — get a reusable water bottle, for example. Replace your incandescent light bulbs with LEDs. Drive less and drive smart — less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using it only as much as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you’re not using them. If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.
But even more than personal measures, the government must formulate and administer serious preventative policy measures to keep such overheating episodes from taking place. Carbon tax is one such immediate toll that may be levied. A carbon tax is essentially a tax on carbon, though sometimes other forms of greenhouse gases as well. It puts a price on each tonne of GHG (greenhouse gas) emitted, in the hope of eventually bringing about a market response across the economy and result in an overall reduction of emissions. Like many kinds of taxes, it acts as an incentive for businesses and individuals to cut down their emissions with their own preferable strategies, whether it is using cleaner fuel or solar panels.
Sarah Baloch
Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2017.
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