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Member of Parliament (MP) for West Rural St Andrew Juliet Cuthbert Flynn is today (November 4) being roasted by Twitter users for comments that seemed aimed at shifting the focus from the bauxite industry’s negative impact on human health and the environment.

Cuthbert Flynn, in a tweet on Wednesday evening, questioned whether meat-loving Jamaicans would give up some of their favourite meals to combat the consequences of climate change, asserting that bauxite mining isn’t the ‘only’ problem.

“How many are willing to give up eating meat! Livestock farming is a huge green house (sic) gas emitter, even more than driving cars. What part are you playing? It’s not only about bauxite mining. We are all a part of the problem even in a small way,” the MP argued.

While some understood where the State Minister of Health and Wellness was going, as they agreed that Jamaicans can adopt subtle but mutually beneficial lifestyle changes by adopting more vegetable-heavy diets, many felt the tweet appeared to cast blame solely at the feet of the people and not at Government for failing to do more.

The Jamaican Twitterati, as well as a few from across the Caribbean, slammed the state minister for ‘gaslighting’. Checks by Our Today verify Cuthbert Flynn’s controversial take has since been deleted by the MP.

According to them, too often politicians utilise ‘whataboutisms’ to shift responsibility and instead lose focus on the reality that there are many aspects to livestock consumption that merely switching from meat to vegetables isn’t an immediate fix.

Others were more retrospective and argued that, though possible, changing to a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle does nothing to offset the large-scale destruction of forests across Jamaica in the name of development.

The same could also be said for little to no law reforms passed in Parliament to address the need for a transition from the methane-intensive and water-aggressive livestock industry.

Many still noted that while Cuthbert Flynn’s tweet could have just been a conversation starter on the timeline, the tone of the comments ‘conveniently’ left out the lack of accountability asked of large-scale entities such as hotels, which are said to commit greater atrocities on the environment that any single Jamaican could ever dream.

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A few opted to, in true Twitter fashion, troll the MP, asking that, since she was so convinced all Jamaicans are in the fight against climate change, whether Parliament would turn off its multiple air-conditioning (AC) units as a ‘valiant’ contribution.

Overall, many Twitter users felt that intention aside, Cuthbert Flynn was tone-deaf in her argument, serving up ‘red herring’ takes without acknowledging any of the Government of Jamaica’s commitments to end deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions on the global stage.