By Hugh Holland
On February 10, the right-biased National Post published an article by former owner Conrad Black that said, “Canada has never had a government so vehemently opposed to our national interests.” In an October 4 National Post article, former Conservative Minister of Natural Resources, and later Minister of Finance Joe Oliver said: “It is past time to stop our indulgent moralizing about climate change”.
Sir Conrad who is famous for his humility and concise language said, “The world is clawing at our door to buy our oil and natural gas but the present government, while inciting every conceivable pretext for refusing or harassing the construction of pipelines to get our oil and gas to world markets, has clamped its lips around the gas-pipe of climate alarmism.”
Apparently, Black forgets that this Liberal government built the only two pipelines since 2007. Oliver’s conservatives didn’t build a single kilometer of pipeline. The Trans Mountain and Coastal Gas Link pipelines are set to come on stream in the first half of 2024. At 15.2 tonnes per capita, Canada is among the world’s highest emitters, so reducing emissions is clearly in Canada’s national interest. Canada’s ability to sell our oil for as long as oil is needed is dependent on reducing our emissions.
Black and Oliver both believe that since Canada’s contribution to the world’s fossil fuel emissions is only 1.5 per cent nothing we do will be of the slightest significance to the world. But by pursuing a responsible path to help mitigate climate change, Canada is serving as a positive model for the world. Using Black’s and Oliver’s twisted logic, China makes only 8.8 tonnes per capita vs Canada at 15.2 tonnes of per capita, so why should China do anything? The USA makes 12.6% of global emissions but only 14.2 tonnes per capita, vs 15.2 for Canada, so why should the USA do anything? India makes 6.9% of global emissions, but only 1.9 tonnes per capita vs Canada’s 15.2, so why should India do anything? Germany makes 1.7% of global emissions but only 8.1 tonnes per capita vs Canada’s 15.2, so why should Germany do anything? France makes only 0.8% of global emissions, and only 4.7 tonnes per capita vs Canada’s 15.2, so, again, why should France do anything?
According to the logic of Black and Oliver, every country has an excuse, so nobody should do anything until the last barrel of oil is pumped from the ground in about 50 years (according to BP’s review of world energy supplies). According to Black and Oliver, nobody should do anything until (according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) up to one billion people desperately try to migrate to higher ground from low coastal cities on every continent, to escape rising sea levels. And, of course, they will be welcomed by people like Black and Oliver with plenty of homes and food. Could it be that Black and Oliver both attended the prestigious Trump University?
Black went on the say, ”Large emitters like China, India, and Russia will not allow ecological nostrums (remedies) of the West to deter them from developing their own economies as swiftly as possible” Really? Both China and India have very serious emission-related health problems and, like Canada and many other countries, are working to reduce emissions as an important part of stabilizing and growing a modern zero-emission economy. China is leading the world in the production of electric vehicles. The picture above shows the world’s first Small Modular Nuclear Reactor that started producing clean electricity in China in January 2022. India has a list of emission reduction strategies underway and does Russia offer a model to emulate for anything?
Black, also affectionately known as Baron Black of Crossharbour, inherited a fortune and controlled the world’s third-largest newspaper group. He shuttled by private jet between his opulent mansions in New York, Palm Beach, London, and Toronto’s Bridle Path. But after presiding over a string of business failures and spending three years in a U.S. federal prison on fraud and obstruction of justice charges, he sold everything but a small corner of his land on the Bridle Path to pay legal fees. He was stripped of his British peerage and the Order of Canada. With that track record, Black is hardly in a position to advise anyone on business matters, including our current national government.
With similar logic, Piere Poilievre will save the day with some yet undisclosed magic wand to reduce emissions. He will use “technology” to force industry alone to reduce emissions. He does not need that pesky carbon tax that is used in 72 countries to help shift consumers toward products that make fewer or zero emissions. According to Poilievre’s theory, industry can do it alone without any help from consumers. In a free market, producers make what consumers want to buy. Not so in a Poilievre world.
Poilievre (Aka Mr. Freedom) would not allow “his people” to attend global climate conferences or the World Economic Forum. After all, why should he listen to the ideas of the world’s foremost scientists and business leaders?
Fortunately, 190 countries including Canada signed the COP 28 agreement that gives the world a fighting chance to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. But what do they know? They do not follow the teachings of Sir Conrad Black, Joe Oliver, and Donald Trump. They only follow the world’s top economists and climate scientists who have researched the subject for over 50 years.
Poilievre’s far-right conservatives are riding high in the polls right now. But sometimes governments, like the current Liberals, do the right thing even knowing it could cost them their jobs. Conservative Brian Mulroney brought in the unpopular GST believing it was the right thing to do. The Liberals criticized the GST and Mulroney lost the election.The succeeding Liberals didn’t cancel it. Instead, they used it to dig Canada out from under a mountain of debt. Thanks to the Conservative’s GST and the Liberal’s CPP, Canada currently has the lowest net debt as a per cent of GDP in the G7 democracies.
Hugh Holland is a retired engineering and manufacturing executive now living in Huntsville, Ontario.
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“If we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, the rise in global temperatures would begin to flatten within a few years. Temperatures would then plateau but remain well-elevated for many, many centuries,” NASA states.
And, other scientists say, that’s because CO2 isn’t the culprit in the first place.
“CO2 does not cause global warming. Global warming causes more CO2,” said Edwin Berry, a theoretical physicist and certified consulting meteorologist. He called Royal Society’s position on CO2 “pure junk science.”
Ian Clark, emeritus professor for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Ottawa, agreed that if all greenhouse gas emissions ceased today, the Earth would continue warming—but not because of CO2.
He said that contrary to popular opinion, temperature doesn’t follow CO2—instead, CO2 follows temperature, which, itself, is due to solar activity.
Why do we think co2 is the only factor that influences global temperatures ?
Maunder sun spot cycles ? the Pacific Decadal Oscillation of 20 to 30 years ? El Nino .
Correlation ( rising CO2 and global temperatures ). does not mean causation.
If you look at the last 600,000,000 years of global temperature and CO2 levels , there is no relationship .
Conrad is correct.
The world started warming 300 years ago , after the end of The Little Ice Age ( 1300. – 1870. ) , long before CO2 levels started to rise . Barley was grown in Greenland during the Medieval Warm Period of 900 – 1300 when the world was warmer then than currently, and with far lower CO2 levels.
CO2 is .04% of our total atmosphere. = nothing but a trace element.
If correlation. = causation , then increased summer ice cream sales is the cause of rising summer shark bites.
I suggest that there are several important climate elements to be considered in any attempt to explain our climate changes: Maunder sun spot cycles. , the 11 year sun strength cycle. , the 20-30 year PDO. , the variable El Nino cycles , The 100,000 year , 40,000 year and 25,751.5 year Milankovich cycles.
If you want to look at CO2 levels , China produces 10 Billion tons / year. Canada .545 Billion tons.
China’s increase in CO2 over 5 years = 600,000 Tons / day. Over the last 5 years Canada has managed to reduce our CO2 output by 96,000 Tons / week. In one day , China replaces our 6 weeks of reduction.
By the way , crop yields have increased along with the rising CO2 levels , so we can now keep many more of earth’s population from starvation