Monday, September 24, 2007

Time To Give Harper The Hook


How can any Canadian be proud, as we watch Harper offer watered down nothingness to the world, under the guise of leadership? Reading some of the text of Harper's speech today, it is clear that Canada's role in the climate change debate is that of fox in the henhouse. Offering "flexibility" as solution, Harper is undermining the idea of real progress, in a cynical campaign meant for domestic consumption. The lasting damage of Harper's public relations exercise, he presents a path to the world that offers an out for the disinterested, which in turn leads to disaster:
But on the question of targets for reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, he said the world was gradually shifting to the idea of "flexible" goals that take into account the need for continued economic expansion.

"There is an emerging consensus on the need for a new, effective and flexible climate framework, one that commits all the world's major emitters to real targets and concrete action against global greenhouse gas emissions," Mr. Harper said.

"We are balancing environmental protection with economic growth ..." he said. "We are promoting a balanced international approach to emissions that engages all major emitters while respecting the unique characteristics of their economies.

Harper's line is the same crap spewed at the G8, "unique" is a replacement for "special", which is code for unbirdled economic expansion. I'm tired of watching Harper appear before the world, with his embarrassing, toothless rhetoric, all the while distracting from real achievement. Anyone who has studied the Harper approach has dismissed it, and yet he is given this platform to act the mover and shaker. These comments sum up the pride we should all feel:
Harper drew sharp criticism from two Canadian youths participating in the one-day event. They said the Conservative government's emission targets are way too low.
"I, for one, am sick of being ashamed of my country and its poor behaviour on the world stage," P.J. Partington of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition told a news conference.

"The government keeps saying Canada's playing a bridging role in the negotiations, but with our current plan we're on the road to nowhere."

Catherine Gauthier, who told leaders the future is in their hands and that too many world capitals are "spinning" their positions, was equally scathing.

"Canada needs to step up our action on climate change or get out of the way of progress," said Gauthier, a member of the Quebec-based Environnement Jeunesse.

Get out of the way is right.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please remind me again of the giant steps the Liberals took on this file. Even Dion and his staff said the Kyoto tagets are unattainable. Your party is the LAST party to talk about watered down attempts to stop climate change.

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:17 - that argument is tiresome - at least Liberals, NDP, Green and even BLOC get it.

Robert Fife reported that Harper was so not into it that during the speeches of others he flipped through papers and kept yawning. How embarrassing for Canadians.

Well, Harper, if you're too chicken or tired to deal with it perhaps it's time to get rid of you so you can have a nap.

Steve V said...

"Please remind me again of the giant steps the Liberals took on this file."

Please spare me the history lesson, on a party I didn't vote for, and talk about the NOW and the FUTURE. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Anonymous said...

Please spare me the history lesson, on a party I didn't vote for, and talk about the NOW and the FUTURE. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Oh, wouldn't it be nice if you could do away with history so easily.

Anonymous said...

The reason I brought up the past is that if Liberals were in power today, we would either be where we are or farther behind in meeting Kyoto targets. Kyoto is a flawed document and should be shredded.

And for Harper yawning, Robert Fife is a Liberal through and through. This is exactly what he delights in reporting. I've seen Paul Martin yawn during Question Period.

Steve V said...

"Robert Fife is a Liberal"

LOL, you mean that guy that has bashed Dion for the last year? Get a grip, your knee-jerk conservative media martyr complex is getting the better of you.

"Oh, wouldn't it be nice if you could do away with history so easily."

Anyway we could erase the last 20 months? That would be a start.

tdwebste said...

Is this Oldschool pretending to be anonymous?
Laughing at your stupidity

Lets assume Canada produces 2% of the green house gases. Then you personally produce effectively nothing. You should also make sure you use your fair share of oil. You don't want someone else burning oil that you could have. In effect you want to waste energy.

You want to forget the fact that China in fact all of Asian, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan are twice as energy efficient as Canada. Greater energy efficiency means lower living cost. Which means you will personally have more money to buy things you want rather than things you must. If don't understand this simple logic, I will be glad to explain it to you.

Moving 2 tons or even 1 ton of steel around to move your fat fanny around is NOT energy efficient. And it is not healthy for you, even if you don't care about the world around you.

Ok why is Harper slashing Canada's energy conservation/efficiency programs? Please do explain! I guess he had to show himself better than Liberals by going backwards.

Steve V said...

"Ok why is Harper slashing Canada's energy conservation/efficiency programs? Please do explain! I guess he had to show himself better than Liberals by going backwards."

Just to add, why is that Harper re-introduced old Liberal programs, put a new name to it, and claimed it as his own, important tools in the fight. The ideas are verbatum, so if you say the Liberals did nothing, then the Tories are guilty of the same nothing, not to mention a healthy dose of plagarism and lack of independent thoughts.

lance said...

Tim, it would be awfully difficult to compare transportation induced CO2 between Canada and Europe or Asia and not laugh.

I'm sorry, but just look at this map.

It isn't realistic or sane. Find another bush to beat.

Cheers,
lance