It seems to me that Canada presents a perfect example of this unbridgeable gap. What Alberta and Saskatchewan demand politically departs from and conflicts with what is necessary to deal with climate change. While both provinces demand unreserved federal commitment to oil exports, neither is willing to make a similar commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This leaves the country with an awkward problem. If we meet their demands we will have to in effect surrender to global warming. If we don't meet their demands, they will continue to throw tantrums and threaten to secede. It's doubtful that they would—it won't be easier to get oil to tidewater through a foreign country than through a fellow province—but they can cause serious disruption if they don't get their way.
We could of course give them what they want and leave dealing with global warming to everybody else. In fact you hear a lot of that kind of talk in Alberta. We only contribute two per cent of the world's emissions so what does it matter if we cop out? Of course it matters a lot. We, along with the Australians and the Americans, are the industrial world's three top emitting peoples (over three times the global average). Furthermore we, like the rest of the Western world, have both contributed longer to the problem and enjoyed more of its benefits. If we failed to accept our responsibilities it would not only be dishonourable, it would set an appalling example to those countries much less able than us to make sacrifices. What would Greta think?
I am a democrat and the heart of democracy is compromise, but sometimes compromise is unacceptable. We cannot compromise with global warming. It will not sit down at the table and negotiate with us. I believe we should accept our responsibilities like adults and proceed with the measures necessary to deal with the threat. We should also listen with brotherly concern to the very real and legitimate fears of the good people of our two Prairie Provinces. We should be creative and generous in assisting them in making the transition from carbon dependency to renewable energy. But surrendering to global warming should not be on the table.
2 comments:
To hear them talk, you would think its my fault they rejected the opportunity to have representation in federal government. They disenfranchised themselves loudly. Where is their right wing acceptance of responsibility for their actions ?
A very good blog entry, I think. The exact dilemma we face and which AB and SK refuse to even admit is the case. Instead, we've had two days of how upset the West is and scarcely a word on GHG emissions. BTW, with almpst 6 million bpd output, AB puts more than 6% of the world's CO2 on its plate. The fact we use only about 40% of AB output (including foreign and US imports in the east) Canada wide is the 1.6 to 2% of which you speak. Apparently the exported dilbit is somebody else's problem to an AB eye.
And then dear old Jason using plan 1 from the Right Wing government playbook cuts corporate tax and sh!ts all over his provincial citizens in the budget, then blames everyone else for cuts. Might as well be living in Alice in Wonderland with that kind of "logic".
BM
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