A great article appeared in the Globe and Mail last weekend about a prominent climate change opponent. The text of the article can be found on the author’s website. It is fairly clear to anyone who has read on the topic that the arguments for climate change are made on the basis of science, and have not been refuted by the scientific community. The arguments against climate change have been unable to discredit the science, but have been promoted to the extent that popular perception tends towards uncertainty and confusion on the issue.
As mentioned in the article, it would appear that thanks to our new Conservative leaders, Climate Change has become a bit of a dirty word for the Canadian Government. The federal government’s climate change website (www.climatechange.gc.ca) has apparently been removed. In its place is a notice directing you to two other government web-pages, neither of which appear to have anything to say on the subject.
So why the change? The Conservative government has promised to outline a new plan for managing emissions this fall. Can they really be taken in by the case against climate change (despite overwhelming scientific consensus supporting it)? Are they curbing to oil interests? Or is this an attempt to move the party line closer to that of their conservative counterparts to the south?
Personally, I would be willing to forgive this if it still meant that our federal government was planning on taking swift action towards implementing an effective plan for reducing emissions, creating incentives for not only new technologies, but energy conservation and efficiency. I personally a believe the best way to do this is the establishment of a carbon cap and trade system.
The problem is that this is not going to happen unless the idea can gain support both at the level of the general public and in the circles of industry. The concepts of climate change and the economic and environmental consequences of emissions trading systems are complicated enough for people to understand without casting more confusion into the issues. Industry has alternatives ready for action, but uncertainty about the government’s plans has delayed initiatives. Quietly submerging the visibility of climate change out of the view of the public only serves to perpetuate the confusion and uncertainty that are delaying action on what climate change is only one symptom of: The fact that we are continuing to deplete the natural capital of our planet by turning oil into carbon gas, and perpetuating our reliance on this unsustainable model for our survival.
