Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Climate Change Concerns: Our growth has limits PT 4

Because humankind has a history of using up resources without concern for natural limits, chances are good that little united action will be taken to combat global warming and resultant climate instability.

No positive steps will ever be encouraged by the federal government of my own country, Canada, which is a great shame in my humble opinion.

Federal Liberal Member of Parliament Glen Pearson (for London North Center) wrote a post entitled ‘Santa Claus Joins Ranks Of The Homeless’ at his blogsite on Dec. 9 that certainly relates to the above statements.


“Just in time for the global environment meetings in Cancun, Mexico, this country’s Environment Commissioner delivered a harsh report on the Conservative record in battling climate change. As it was being released, the Harper government was being awarded three “Fossil of the Day” awards. Alas, from both within and without, Canada has adopted environmental policies that are an embarrassment to our international reputation and likely formed a key reason why we lost the Security Council vote a short while ago.”

“The humiliation grew only more acute with the release of the latest Climate Change Performance Index, in which Canada fell to 54th out of 57 countries. The current government took up the practice almost five years ago of saying one thing about its environmental commitment while practicing the opposite.  This purposeful benign obstructionism has left Canadians and the provinces confused, frustrated and embarrassed. In reality, the death of any real climate change agenda is almost complete.”



Some Canadians will say, wait. Our Prime Minister is doing his best. London’s Liberal MP says otherwise.

“This week, the Prime Minister stood up in Question Period and stated that he is looking out for the economy of this country by focusing on security, among other things. Yet there is nothing more insecure than a planet in decline – nothing. Will stealth jets clean up our water?  Will billions of dollars spent on prisons lower our carbon footprint?  Could it possibly be that cutting taxes on corporations will lead to a green revolution?  Did the $50 + billion stimulus plan deal in any significant way with our staggering emissions? No matter how many people you throw in the slammer, or how many high-tech jets you purchase, you will in no way reduce our carbon footprint by one smidgen. How can you have security when farms are lost due to drought, lakes are poisoned, agriculture is in decline, and coasts are ruined by rising tides?” (MP G. Pearson’s complete post is here).


Canadians don’t know the meaning of limits.

Personal debt is extremely high and has put many families in a very vulnerable position.

Ontario’s provincial debt has never been higher.

Federal or national debt has never been higher.

Carbon emissions only decline when we experience a recession. Otherwise, our main desire is to burn fuel like there’s no tomorrow.

No tomorrow.

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Please read Our growth has limits PT 1 for more context.

Please read Our growth has limits PT 2 for more context.

Please read Our growth has limits PT 3 for more context.

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