I saw this photograph in the newspaper today and it made my head want to explode, not because I'm Canadian and was being overly patriotic but because of the ridiculous rhetoric. I'm no great defender of the Oil Sands; it is the hypocritical, over-the-top and flat out self-serving dishonesty attached to issues like this that makes me wonder if anyone ever stops and thinks about an issue before they plant themselves in front of the media.
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Native protesters demonstrating against the Alberta Tar Sands
photo credit: Reuters - Mike Hutching |
We have some serious environmental issues facing us around the world, the Alberta Tar Sands isn't the biggest by a long shot nor is it the biggest "crime" as these aboriginal protesters claim. I don't much care what side of an issue someone is on, we can discuss and debate that issue but for God's sake, get informed first and quit with the ill-informed, knee-jerk reactions. All this nonsense accomplishes is to get us focused on the wrong things.
Personally, I don't understand how taking environmentally unfriendly sludge out of the ground, extracting the oil from it and returning cleaner earth back to the ground is environmentally detrimental. Nor do I understand how that makes the oil ethical or unethical but put that aside for a moment. Let's even put aside the questionable science about the effect of green house emission because that isn’t what boils my brain.
To be completely honest, I don't care if the pipeline from Alberta to Texas gets built or not. If the Americans don't buy Canadian oil from the Oil Sands, China probably will and if China decides not to buy it, we can use it ourselves and stop importing oil from places like Venezuela.
It's the hypocritical stupidity that too many bring to these issues that challenges my ability to remain civil.
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Another example of the over-the-top nonsense
some use to try and manipulate others to their point of view |
We see it every day, people and groups latch onto some cause and cling to it like a banker clings to your money. Some doctor in Britain falsifies data about vaccinations and immediately celebrities like Oprah Winfrey are warning their followers to avoid vaccinating their children lest they become autistic. When the science is exposed as fraudulent, people refuse to believe it because Oprah said it was bad and thousands of children are exposed to dangerous diseases like polio, tuberculosis, measles and even smallpox which was all but eradicated.
Occupy in a magnificent orgy of misinformation promulgates a ridiculously simplistic view of the world that is basically, "they're bad, we're good - give us your money and the world will be a better place". It doesn't matter how often their facts are proven to be ill-informed, nothing sways the converted from their view of the world. When wildlife is killed or injured by industry, environmentalists call it a crime. When they're killed or injured by green projects, it's a sacrifice that has to be made.
And that exemplifies the hypocrisy of too many in the movement.
No group comes closer to cult status than some in the environmental movement. "Renewable energy will save us. Solar and wind turbine farms will be our salvation." It doesn't matter that hydro electric power is clean and renewable or that nuclear power is the cleanest of all energy. Environmentalists worship the sun and the wind. It doesn't even matter that wind farms kill more birds in a week than have been killed and injured at the Oil Sands from their beginning. Whoops!
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It takes more energy to produce these
bulbs and ship them from China
than is saved by replacing regular bubls |
My favourite environmentalist hypocrisy remains the fluorescent light bulbs made in China that take more energy to manufacture and ship than the current incandescent light bulbs consume. Another whoops! But environmentalists are undeterred. They have seen the light even though it is much dimmer thanks to the light bulbs they endorse. Even the lead content of those light bulbs, which eventually ends up in our landfills, does not sway the righteous from their belief.
It's all one big screamfest of opinion and bias with little to support it other than questionable science and an overwhelming sense of guilt. Yes, guilt. Environmentalists are about two things; guilt (ours, not theirs) and money (theirs, not ours). They have become incredibly good at making others feel guilty about the damage they are doing to the environment while at the same time turning it into a profitable little enterprise.
Consider a couple of facts. Canada contributes less than 2% of the total global green house gas emissions, including the Oil Sands. The United States, China, Russia and India contribute 70%. I'm not criticizing those countries for their environmental policies; I'm merely stating a fact.
Consider also that of the top 10 cities in the world with the cleanest air, eight of them are in Canada. In other words, Canada is not a major polluter, hell, we barely qualify as a very minor contributor to green house gas emissions but that hasn't toned down the rhetoric from those who make their living off causes like this nor from the tragically ill-informed who support them.
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Perhaps temperatures are going up because
climate change is determined by nature,
not humanity |
In Canada, the Harper government is being criticized for pulling out of the Kyoto Accord which set specific targets for green house gas emissions for all signatories. The Kyoto Accord was signed and ratified in Canada by then Prime Minister Jean Chretien, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, who promptly shelved the document and did nothing to honour the terms of the accord. His successor, Paul Martin, also of the Liberal Party, did nothing during his tenure as prime minister.
In fact, few countries anywhere have even come close to meeting their targets and quite a few didn't even try. The reason? It was too expensive and few could afford it. The targets were unrealistic and the costs were outrageous.
In Canada, the cost was estimated at more than $10 billion a year alone and that was 12 years ago. Who knows what the cost would actually be in today's dollars.
The United States and China which account for 40% of the world's green house gas emissions were not signatories to the agreement although the U.S. proceeded on its own to reduce emissions and has done quite well.
None of this means anything to people liked Dr. David Suzuki, M.P. Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party or Al Gore who as part of the Clinton administration didn't do much to change environmental policy in the United States. Now these paragons of devoted to saving the earth from green house gas emissions jet off to climate conferences and meetings to discuss reducing reliance on fossil fuels. I find it bizarre that they see no hypocrisy in that.
I'll leave Mr. Gore's credibility to my American friends to judge but I have pretty much had it up to my armpits with Suzuki and May.
Both have turned climate change into successful careers and both have decided that the best way to secure our future as a planet is to attack one of the few countries with the lowest emissions. I watched Ms May on a news program the other night being interviewed about Canada's withdrawal from Kyoto and to hear her tell it, Canada is the only thing standing between salvation and perdition. Excuse me Liz but your anti-conservative bias is showing. When the big emitters turn their back on an agreement, there really isn't much point in getting your shorts in a knot over Canada's small role.
Not one word came from her mouth about China which is opening up coal-fired power plants faster than a a bank figures out new fees to charge or India which emits more green house gas in a day than Canada does in a year.
It is the same with Dr. Suzuki. There is always plenty of self-righteous criticism for Canada and none for those who are the real problem.
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| The theme of the Suzuki Foundation's latest fund raising campaign |
Indeed, Dr. Suzuki's Foundation has gone so far as to publish a message to children just in time for Christmas explaining that Santa has to move because the North Pole is melting due to green house gas emissions.
(It does't matter that the latest reports are that polar ice is actually expanding) When you go to his foundation's website, children are told that Santa's needs their help and conveniently, there is a link to a whole slew of Christmas gifts you can buy from the foundation to not only help Santa but...by coincidence...the foundation. They then (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) tell you that they won't really send out the gifts but will give you a lovely tax receipt for your donation. One more gift from the taxpayer that the foundation continues to berate for its evil energy consuming lifestyle.
And these are the people who call some oil unethical. It's unbelievable!
If Canada were to reduce its total green house gas emissions by 100% (at a cost so enormous it would bankrupt the country as former PM Chretien discovered when his government started to price out his commitment), it would have no impact on the world's emissions or climate. This does not mean that Canada shouldn’t do its part but it does mean that its part is pointless unless the big emitters get on board. Instead of harping at Canada, it’s time environmentalists quit hitting the soft targets and found some cojones and went after those who emit the most.
It won’t happen though because it really isn’t about reducing emissions. It's a business and that’s all there is too it. In Canada, they've even convinced retailers to charge for the bags provided to carry your purchases with the money that is collected going to an environmental group like the Word Wildlife Fund. It's about the money honey.
I support efforts to make the world a better place and that includes reducing green house gas emissions but let's be smart about it and set realistic and achievable goals. Let's set targets that we can actually afford and for God's sake, let's stop being led around by the nose by alarmists and opportunists making their living off trying to scare the hell out of everyone in order to advance their careers and make a few bucks.
LINKS
Where Will Santa Live - The Suzuki Foundation's new marketing scheme to make even more money on climate change fears
Climategate: Emails that question the validity of much of the information being used by governments and environmentalists.
© 2011 Maggie's Bear
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And that is when he came up with this solution, a solution that only a politician could announce with a straight face and expect the world to accept as real and decisive leadership. The president would ensure that his administration would expedite approval of the bottom half of the pipeline, (the part that connects Oklahoma to Texas) but would delay a decision on the rest of the pipeline (the part that actually connects to where the oil is) until after the election.
Remember that election promise about changing the way things were done, Mr. President? Here's the sad truth. Just as there is no way to get oil to your refineries in Texas without actually connecting to where the oil is, you can't honour your commitment to change by being the same as those you replaced.
