Zach LarkinsKYOYO VIII (b)(cont'd)
Let's take another bit of a rest here before addressing the actual issue at hand and focus on Dr. Davis Suzuki.
Dr. Suzuki is a learned man who gained his reputation in the environmental field. His TV series ‘The Nature of Things' was a wonder to watch and very, very informative. I watched it every chance I got and it taught me a lot about the world we live in. Unfortunately, Dr. Suzuki's fame seems to have gone to his head and he is now thoroughly ensconced in the ‘sky is falling' camp of people like Al Gore.
An aside here, an American reader asked me who Suzuki was as he thought Suzuki was an automobile manufacturer. I don't know if there is a connection, but Canada's Suzuki is America's Gore. I hope that clears things up a little bit.
Back to the point, Dr. Suzuki is currently on tour across Canada to speak to the people about global warming. He will stop in more than 40 communities from St. John's to Victoria and claims it isn't a book tour or a publicity tour for a television show. Fair enough on the surface, but let's wait to see what actually transpires. Suzuki is keeping us up to date about his tour by writing about it and submitting his articles to CanWest news. It seems to me that this is a harbinger of a future book, but that's my personal opinion.
Forty communities across a land as vast as Canada would hardly be a representative sample of what people want or what they think, but you can bet he will spin it to say this what all of Canada thinks. I remember when the government held ‘public' hearings before enacting their smoking ban. They didn't go into any of the cities that would be most affected by it and refused to hear anything negative about it. Those speakers, once invited, were suddenly uninvited. They didn't even go into tobacco country to hear what tobacco farmers had to say. I hold out no hope that Suzuki's tour will be any different.
Suzuki claims to be of no particular political stripe, yet on ‘The Hour' he chastises PM Harper for being ‘so far up Bush's backside' that it makes one wonder. He demands Harper do something now about global warming. Set standards. Set timelines. He seems to have forgotten that from the time the Liberals signed up for Kyoto until they were defeated some 13 years later, having done nothing to address the problem, his voice was strangely silent.
Dr. Suzuki writes, "Polls tell us that environmental issues like global warming are the number one concern of Canadians. Yet most of our politicians offer up little more than window dressings to address these issues. It's as if many are just hoping to lay low until this "environment thing" blows over so they can go back to ignoring it as usual. That's not right. And I personally will do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen." Well, of course he will. If he didn't he would go back to being an obscure environmentalist with a TV show. I'm sure he gets paid handsomely to attach his name to this propaganda. He goes on to say, "It wasn't until global warming started being actually observed by Canadians and reported on by the media consistently and accurately that the environment got back on the agenda." The media have indeed been consistent in their reporting, but the accuracy is in doubt.
"We need to have strong targets and timelines for our biggest polluters to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions," says Dr. Suzuki. He misses and dismisses a few minor points. First is the aforementioned Liberal government that did nothing for 13 years to set targets and timelines. Why did they fail to do anything? That will be discussed in the next of this series.
He seems to gloss over the idea that Kyoto will do nothing to change global warming. North America is charged with producing the technology required to curb green house gases. Thankfully, the Americans saw Kyoto for what it was and refused to sign on. Canada's emissions have gone up over 37% since the Liberals inked the deal while emissions in the US have dropped drastically. Regardless, with countries like China, India and Russia not on board, where do the emission reductions come into play? While we pay them millions of dollars in ‘carbon credits' they are free to continue spewing pollution into the air. China recently announced plans to build over 550 coal-fired generating stations. So how exactly is Kyoto going to reduce pollution?
Suzuki writes, " In Newfoundland and Labrador, I heard stories of families split apart by the tar sands. Those left at home are grateful for the incomes their loved ones are able send, but they are torn by concerns about the inherent unsustainability of the industry, and what its continued development will mean for global warming and for future generations." He conveniently forgets that Newfoundland and Labrador have always been ‘have-not' provinces that relied heavily on federal equalization payments and unemployment insurance when the fishing season was over. When cod fishing was banned, the economy of the province went down the tubes and people emigrated en masse to Alberta looking for work in the oil fields. To blame the whole thing completely on the tar sands is ludicrous.
He says, "In New Brunswick, people told me they were worried about their province being too heavily tied to a single corporation that is expanding fossil fuel development." This is understandable. I see it here where all our eggs are in the automotive manufacturing basket, and the auto industry is in deep trouble right now. But coal is what New Brunswick has the most of, and perhaps the companies that mine it are looking a bit into the future where they might sell it to the Chinese.
Suzuki is so hell bent for leather to champion the cause of Kyoto, that he has been blinded to the big picture and sees this single accord as the magic bullet that will save us all. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail.
Sources: Dr. David Suzuki - CanWest Services
The Toronto Sun
S L Bradish - Aussie Imbeciles - The Political Brief
Dr. Suzuki is a learned man who gained his reputation in the environmental field. His TV series ‘The Nature of Things' was a wonder to watch and very, very informative. I watched it every chance I got and it taught me a lot about the world we live in. Unfortunately, Dr. Suzuki's fame seems to have gone to his head and he is now thoroughly ensconced in the ‘sky is falling' camp of people like Al Gore.
An aside here, an American reader asked me who Suzuki was as he thought Suzuki was an automobile manufacturer. I don't know if there is a connection, but Canada's Suzuki is America's Gore. I hope that clears things up a little bit.
Forty communities across a land as vast as Canada would hardly be a representative sample of what people want or what they think, but you can bet he will spin it to say this what all of Canada thinks. I remember when the government held ‘public' hearings before enacting their smoking ban. They didn't go into any of the cities that would be most affected by it and refused to hear anything negative about it. Those speakers, once invited, were suddenly uninvited. They didn't even go into tobacco country to hear what tobacco farmers had to say. I hold out no hope that Suzuki's tour will be any different.
Dr. Suzuki writes, "Polls tell us that environmental issues like global warming are the number one concern of Canadians. Yet most of our politicians offer up little more than window dressings to address these issues. It's as if many are just hoping to lay low until this "environment thing" blows over so they can go back to ignoring it as usual. That's not right. And I personally will do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen." Well, of course he will. If he didn't he would go back to being an obscure environmentalist with a TV show. I'm sure he gets paid handsomely to attach his name to this propaganda. He goes on to say, "It wasn't until global warming started being actually observed by Canadians and reported on by the media consistently and accurately that the environment got back on the agenda." The media have indeed been consistent in their reporting, but the accuracy is in doubt.
"We need to have strong targets and timelines for our biggest polluters to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions," says Dr. Suzuki. He misses and dismisses a few minor points. First is the aforementioned Liberal government that did nothing for 13 years to set targets and timelines. Why did they fail to do anything? That will be discussed in the next of this series.
He seems to gloss over the idea that Kyoto will do nothing to change global warming. North America is charged with producing the technology required to curb green house gases. Thankfully, the Americans saw Kyoto for what it was and refused to sign on. Canada's emissions have gone up over 37% since the Liberals inked the deal while emissions in the US have dropped drastically. Regardless, with countries like China, India and Russia not on board, where do the emission reductions come into play? While we pay them millions of dollars in ‘carbon credits' they are free to continue spewing pollution into the air. China recently announced plans to build over 550 coal-fired generating stations. So how exactly is Kyoto going to reduce pollution?
Suzuki writes, " In Newfoundland and Labrador, I heard stories of families split apart by the tar sands. Those left at home are grateful for the incomes their loved ones are able send, but they are torn by concerns about the inherent unsustainability of the industry, and what its continued development will mean for global warming and for future generations." He conveniently forgets that Newfoundland and Labrador have always been ‘have-not' provinces that relied heavily on federal equalization payments and unemployment insurance when the fishing season was over. When cod fishing was banned, the economy of the province went down the tubes and people emigrated en masse to Alberta looking for work in the oil fields. To blame the whole thing completely on the tar sands is ludicrous.
He says, "In New Brunswick, people told me they were worried about their province being too heavily tied to a single corporation that is expanding fossil fuel development." This is understandable. I see it here where all our eggs are in the automotive manufacturing basket, and the auto industry is in deep trouble right now. But coal is what New Brunswick has the most of, and perhaps the companies that mine it are looking a bit into the future where they might sell it to the Chinese.
Suzuki is so hell bent for leather to champion the cause of Kyoto, that he has been blinded to the big picture and sees this single accord as the magic bullet that will save us all. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail.
Sources: Dr. David Suzuki - CanWest Services
The Toronto Sun
S L Bradish - Aussie Imbeciles - The Political Brief
youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern