All Albertans and Canadians need to read the Pembina Institute and David Suzuki Foundation report "Climate Leadership, Economic Prosperity" released today. Congratulations to the authors and thank you Toronto-Dominion Bank for funding the report.
There needs to be an open citizens debate about climate change. It looks like Copenhagen is going to be a failure because the Amereicans are not ready and our Canadian government is too disengaged in getting the issues in a serious way.
So if the world fails to come to grips with climate change in Copenhagen, then Harper's hosting of the G20 in Huntsville Ontario in July 2010. That will be the nest best chance to get something serious solutions happening on the climate change agenda. Is Harper up to the task? Does he want to deal with the issue? Will he even be Prime Minister in July 2010?
Here is book review on Green Oil, a book that frames the opportunity for Alberta to show climate leadership and economic prosperity. These issues are just some of the policy and political questions that need to be discussed by Albertans. One venue for that conversation is at http://www.greenoilbook.com/.
Hope you visit and share your views on the next Alberta.
Its not the US and Canada are not ready for Copenhagen and a climate change deal, its that there are fundamental issues North-South and rich-poor which are not being addressed. While Canada has no realistic climate change mitigation strategy, the US is now repositioning its thinking as an energy strategy - green energy (and green oil) will be central.
ReplyDeleteAlberta could have been a leader in all sorts of renewable energy, if the politicians had been less fossilized.
ReplyDeleteMy question is, will it even matter by July 2010? The levels of CO2 are rising so fast that soon they'll reach levels that'll make it impossible to ever return to a normal state of the atmosphere. I am very disappointed with the lack of action the Harper government is showing. A citizens debate is a great idea but will it have any effect? Harper generally does not like to listen to other people and I don't think he would in this case anyways. It's just a sad sad situation.
ReplyDeleteTake care, Julie
Canada is really way behind. In Washington a couple of days ago at the Cross Border energy forum I met people who had served in the Bush administration as well as people involved in current governance: Americans see climate change and green energy as a business opportunity and a challenge. Their leaders comprehensively understand that economy and environment are the same issue, here we have guys who are really past it in their ability to think and write (yes, Rex Murphy, that means you) still blathering that environmental sustainability is an economic cost. If that's what an Oxford educated Rhodes Scholar thinks,can anyone expect our hapless and badly advised political leadership to go bold?
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