8 February 2018
President Clinton says Dominica can lead way in producing clean energy
By DNO
Former US President Bill Clinton that Dominica can lead the way in producing clean energy and prove that the Caribbean can be prosperous by building homes that are resilient to natural disasters.
Clinton is on a one-day visit to Dominica and at a press conference said that he is thankful to the Government of Norway for allowing his foundation, the Clinton Foundation, to participate in the effort of green energy.
“They believed when we first ask them that Dominica in particular, and the Caribbean in general, could lead the world to a whole new way of producing clean power, reducing the threat of climate change and improve the economy of developing countries,” he said. “And they bought the argument I was making that the Caribbean could literally lead the way, that we have the chance to make it the first sustainable region to in the world and now the Prime Minister (Roosevelt Skerrit) has said at the beginning of his great speech at the UN that he wants Dominica to be the first totally climate resilient country on earth.”
He stated that Dominica has the chance to prove that the Caribbean can be more prosperous by building resilient homes and structures than by ignoring it.
He added that Dominica also has the chance to prove that the Caribbean can be more prosperous with plentiful green power at lower costs, which he said will allow the utility company make more money “because you will have more users.”
“I have watched country after country after country in the Caribbean held back with the highest electric rates in the world because they insisted on continuing years after they should have the old model of importing heavy oil or diesel, when there were ample solar, wind, and in your case geothermal resources, available to deal with it,” he stated. “We have to prove that we can stop rising sea levels, we have to prove that we can fight the most destructive impacts of climate change and we have to prove doing it makes good economics, that the bottom line, that is what this is all about.”
