Ottawa's Splendid Greenwash

 

The devil, as usual, is in the details.

There was plenty of bombast today in Ottawa as the Trudeau government announced bold targets to cut Canadian CO2 emissions by 45 per cent by 2030.  Canada has a rich history of emissions targets that never seem to be met.

Canada is a land of cognitive dissonance.  At the same time as we're promising to trim domestic emissions, we're gearing up to increase exports of  the dirtiest fossil fuels. Canada's chartered banks are pouring money into bitumen and gas at a furious rate.

Back when the Harper government was in power the Big Lie was that Canada's emissions didn't matter. We were a tiny country, by population. That, of course, ignored the fact that we were in the top ten emitters on a per capita basis and also overall.

There is, however, a far greater problem than whether you bite the bullet and get rid of your gas guzzler. It's our export habits.

A report released last week out of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change concluded that if mankind is to have a break even chance of arresting global warming the wealthy fossil fuel producers will have to cut production by 70 per cent by 2030 and entirely by 2034. That's at best a 50/50 prospect. 

Ottawa's promise, even if by some miracle it comes true, is only gestural, greenwash. It is throwing in the towel.


Comments

  1. Owen GrayApril 1, 2022 at 8:31 AM

    As long as we're making a profit from our oil exports, Mound, we're part of the problem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Disaffected LibApril 3, 2022 at 2:25 PM

      No nation or group of nations is willing to go first, Owen. Especially not when an election is a neck and neck affair.

      Delete
  2. TrailblazerApril 1, 2022 at 6:58 PM

    As long as we insist on using carbon fuels, we are the problem.
    In BC some 60% would purchase an electric vehicle or hybrid would the product be available t an affordable price.
    The will for change is there but, as yet, not the product.

    https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/09/27/ford-to-lead-americas-shift-to-electric-vehicles.html

    https://www.ford.com/powertrains/battery-electric-vehicles/


    The carbon tax is, I hope, designed to promote such change.
    It is up to the taxpayer to make sure such taxes are used wisely and not on such things as the F35 bomber!!

    https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/f-35-a-serious-strategic-mismatch-for-
    canadas-north-retired-colonel-says


    TB

    ReplyDelete
  3. Northern PoVApril 2, 2022 at 7:57 AM

    Strange days. As the world literally chokes on our detritus, ritual replaces action.

    Like Buddhists or Catholics genuflecting at their preferred icon on their way to war, this pious, greenwashing, public display from politicians is now all muscle-memory while the real work proceeds.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Disaffected LibApril 3, 2022 at 2:27 PM

    The clock is running out, TB.

    ReplyDelete

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