 |
| Canadian Money Magazine feature |
James McKinnon, Canadian Money Magazine
In an interview on the CBC's Radio One program Q last Wednesday, former US vice-president Al Gore politely criticized the Canadian government's willingness to accept a trade-off between tax revenue from oil produced in the Alberta tar sands, allegedly the "dirtiest" oil on the planet, and the environmental costs of producing that oil.
To drive home the point, he said that gasoline refined from the tar sands gave a Toyota Prius "the carbon footprint of a GMC Hummer." The oil sands development is just the highest-profile example of Canada's dismal environmental record. Canada's record in dealing with the global climate crisis is far from inspiring. Greenhouse gas emission targets set at the 1997 Kyoto conference were never met. Not only were they not met, but emissions have risen continuously since that accord was signed. Canada is now perceived by many to be the developed world's worst laggard in getting emissions under control. Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club of Canada and David Suzuki Foundation, have called the government's performance to date "shameful," referring in part to the UN conference on climate change in Poznan, Poland last year where Canada was given a "Fossil of the Day" award for its delay and deny tactics to block progress.
There have even been reports in the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. that an author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and some NGOs, want Canada suspended from the Commonwealth because of its poor environmental record. This week, just before the prime minister changed his mind about attending the Copenhagen conference in December, environment minister Jim Prentice said that there was no point setting new emission targets in Canada until we know what the Americans are going to do. This is in keeping with the minister's casual attitude toward the problem of climate change, whose urgency he believes is "dictated by the time between today and 2050." Canada, he says, needs forty years to do its part in stabilizing emissions and it would be "ill-advised" to "rush" through changes that would disrupt Canada's lifestyles and economy.
Prentice claims that "science supports as being acceptable" this longer-term approach to the climate change problem. It would be difficult to find a scientist who agreed with this assessment. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2009 is a crucial year to address climate change. Some scientists say industrialized nations must cut emissions by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 to prevent climate disasters, such as coastal flooding from rising sea levels, severe weather events, and variations in rainfall and temperatures that will affect agriculture and wipe out species of plants and animals. Evidence that climate change is already affecting "lifestyles and economy" in Canada, however, is not hard to find. A new report from the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy states that climate change is moving fastest in the Arctic and that Canada will be forced to become a world leader in "adaptation practices," such as updating construction and engineering codes, providing better weather information, making changes to insurance systems, and building new infrastructure to withstand the effects of climate change such as melting winter roads, melting permafrost causing destabilizing of airport runways and buildings, and storm surges.
If becoming a leader in "adaptation practices" sounds reactionary rather than proactive, it could be because Jim Prentice and his boss Stephen Harper prefer, like the Duke of Plazatoro, to "lead his regiment from behind, he found it less exciting." With the Copenhagen conference looming, will anything useful come of it? China, the world's second biggest emitter/polluter, relies almost exclusively on dirty coal to fuel its booming economy. China has said for the first time that it will take steps to limit carbon dioxide emissions, a 40 to 45 percent cut in "carbon intensity," or emissions relative to economic output, below 2005 levels by 2020. Since China is not seeking international aid to achieve these reductions, it will not seek international monitoring either, and has said that it will not be doing any more, unless the West foots the bill. Is this enough? Will China's move pressure India into following suit? President Obama announced that the United States will pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent of 2005 levels by 2020. Can they afford to do it? Will Congress approve it?
Will Stephen Harper finally reveal his government's intentions? Africa suffered from drought, political instability and corruption, poverty and disease long before climate change became the issue that it is today, and Africa has perhaps the most to lose if the problem is not solved. Millions already suffer on that continent, and, according to a report from the Pan African Alliance for Climate Justice, millions more will go hungry if the global temperature rises by just 1.5 degrees Celsius, a virtual certainty even if no further emissions were released into the atmosphere, according to some scientists. The costs in coping with the effects of climate change on Africa are estimated to be tens of billions of dollars per year, though there is no really accurate way to predict this.
But African countries are among the least responsible for the climate crisis. It is not fair to burden them with paying the price when it is the rich countries, Canada included, who have caused the problem. Perhaps the government of Canada will be shamed out of its wait-and-see-what-the-US-does stance and take a leadership role at Copenhagen, though this government has shown again and again that it is more comfortable reacting than showing imagination and leadership.
Persona Corp. and Blogertize publishes several e-zines for entertainment and information, but cautions readers to read the NOTICE above:
• Films and Books
• Canadian Money Magazine
• Advance Magazine
* Link Magazine
* EDI Weekly
* Secure Network News
* Canadian Money Magazine
* Crime Report USA
Sponsored Advertisers
Jameson Bank – Canada's "It's Taken Care Of" Bank
Amer.com – Technology for Life
freedom9 — The freedom of a secure world
Daemar Inc — Moving at the pace of industry
|
—
