Climate Change: Mankind’s Greatest Threat

As a conservationist, I believe in climate change, man-made or not. Living in Calgary where the weather may change every five minutes, unlike Leonardo DiCaprio I know that a Chinook is not global warming; and that el Nino is a natural occurrence.  However, I now recognize that the assertion by terrorism deniers’ that climate change is the world’s greatest threat is real; and this is why:

After the failures of the Kyoto Protocol, some 200 countries comprising 40,000 delegates, including 380 from Canada attended COP21 in Paris in 2015. The Montgolfier brothers would have been ecstatic at the amount of hot air produced at this conference. With great fanfare, the participants signed an agreement to reduced GHG emissions to somehow prevent the average earth’s temperatures rising more than 2C higher than pre-industrial levels. To take effect the agreement needs ratification by at least 55% of the signatories, and will come into force in 2020, when ironically most leaders who signed the agreement will certainly be out of office.

Once again, this agreement has no teeth, and pledges from 186 countries were achieved because the system is essentially voluntary. While emitting carbon dioxide remains optional the only binding part of the agreement is that nations will do more planning.

 As industrialized countries shift their production to developed countries there will in effect be no change in GHG emissions since most countries like India and China make greater use of coal than Canada, the U.S and European countries. Global CO2 emissions have risen by 42% since 1990, and it is unlikely to decrease very much under the new agreement.

Let us look at why the climate change rhetoric is now the world’s greatest threat. First, the Paris agreement is likely to be the most expensive treaty in the history of the world. Based on several peer- reviewed energy- economic models, the total cost of Paris — through slower growth in gross domestic product from higher energy costs — will reach $ 1 trillion-$ 2 trillion every year from 2030. The International Energy Agency estimates the magnitude of subsidies for renewal power — which still doesn’t eliminate the need for baseload power — could top $3 trillion over the next 25 years.
Second we have the agreement to spend $100 billion, including Canada’s pledge of $2.65B.on climate aid to help the developing world. This is the most useless wealth redistribution policy put together by a number of leftist who want to feel virtuous. Worse, this will be administrated by the dysfunctional United Nations were money is usually squandered, and transferred to despots in the third world. While billions are starving and have no running water; spending billions to provide them with solar panels and wind turbines is the most dishonest way to get rid of poverty.

On the home front Alberta’s new NDP government plans to raise a carbon tax and reduce the use of coal in the province will no doubt damage the provincial economy. In addition the Trudeau government may well add to the problem with new taxes. Obama’s decision to ban the Keystone XL pipeline will further damage the economy. The irony is that the U.S will produce more oil as they lift a ban on oil exports.

Third we have the constant attack on free speech. Skeptics are always attacked and prevented from expressing their opinion. Ecojustice wants the Competition Bureau to stop Friends of Science (FoS) that has put up billboards in Calgary and Edmonton saying the sun, not human beings or CO2, is the cause of global warming. Their claim is that the information by FoS is misleading information. Yet they claim that the science of climate change is backed by 97% of scientists, while the American Meteorological Society and Netherlands surveys which were anonymous found nowhere near 97 per cent support for the IPCC conclusion.

Fourth, children are being indoctrinated instead of being educated to learn about all the facts. They are subjected to views put forward by the climate change religion comprised of  high priests Suzuki, Al Gore et al, who  ignore that the climate has been changing for billions of years, long before fossil fuel became the major source of energy. Rising sea levels are nothing new, the Bible and other ancient texts reports show that there was a major flood; that glaciers have been melting for centuries, and climatic changes happened pre the industrial revolution.

Solutions abound. Alternative sources of energy should be explored and brought on stream, but the main problem will be storage. We should invest in research and new technology. We must not ignore that we are a carbon-based specie, and that economic growth was largely achieved through the use of fossil fuels. A zero –carbon economy will not be achieved for at least 90 years, if not longer. Conservation is the answer, and it should be done through positive incentives, not punitive taxes and ridiculous subsidies which promote crony capitalism and minimize economic growth.
By stealth we are about to lose  fundamental economic and speech freedoms. Yes, climate change has become the greatest threat to mankind, not because of fossil fuels but due to political rhetoric and self-righteous politicians in search of a legacy.

The Rise of theTroglodytes

Ever since the conservative era of the eighties, the left had been chomping at the bit to get back into power. Stuck for years in the caves of oblivion the socialists changed their names to progressives. Enter Obama, the savior of the left. With his slogan of ‘hope and change’, he gave all leftists the confidence they had been so lacking for years. As a result the left has risen from its ashes and now populate virtually every country and Canadian province. The consequences of this conversion are being felt on a global scale. However, buyers’ remorse is gradually but surely increasing everywhere.

The International arena

The election of Obama, a socialist and terrorism denier, emboldened politicians around the world to move left and with disastrous results. The global economy is still stagnating as the U.S economy stalled for the past seven years. His mantra of income inequality resonated with many politicians, unfortunately the poor got poorer.

Europe turned left despite the recent election of Conservatives in England. Merkel of Germany once thought to be a centre-right politician soon changed her views when it came to bailing out Greece and accepting hundreds of thousands of refugees, without thinking about the security of Europe. France’s Hollande, tried to redistribute wealth by taxing the rich, but that did not work too well. In the U.K the rise of socialist Corbyn is already showing signs of taking root as a two-year commission, chaired by the former senior judge Baroness Butler-Sloss and  involving leading religious leaders from all faiths, called for public life in Britain to be systematically de-Christianised.

The worse part of Obama’s presidency must be the great divide caused by political correctness and his reluctance to recognize the true global threat of terrorism. The former has percolated into the media and increasingly into the education system. It has threatened freedom of speech and created an environment where everybody seems to be offended by everything. No longer can the establishment or individuals be challenged for their views for fear of being labelled a racist, bigot or xenophobe. Today discourse on any subject is immediately analyzed in terms of race or discrimination. However, it seems that this distinction does not apply to the left; they can say or do anything and are never called to the mat. The left is always right and the media has virtually allowed them to become experts on every subject from economics to climatology.

The leftist agenda has not only increased but has taken root in our education system, as increasingly our children are being indoctrinated. Today universities are supposed to provide ‘safe space’, sleeping and resting places, and dogs for stressed students. Students at an early age are being coddled and good teachers are being punished for being disciplinarians and allocating marks according to performance. No longer do we support achievement. Even in sports there seems to be a reluctance to acknowledge that elite athletes exists and should be looked at differently. With the rise of so-called social justice, everybody seems to be given a pass. We must have a Mincom; and no longer should success be rewarded by large salaries. The entitlement society has arrived and it has an effect on every aspect of today’s life.

 

The Canadian dilemma

This socialist trend can be seen in Canada. As of December 2015, there is no government in Canada with the name ‘conservative’. Alberta one of the staunchest conservative provinces went to the New Democrats and the country went back to the Liberals. The consequences of these two elections are already displayed by the dictatorship and arrogance of the left’s policies.

In Ontario, as reported by the Auditor General, the Wynn government is fraught with scandals in every sector from healthcare, to the energy file. The government’s climate change policy has resulted in a 70 per cent rise in eight years for residential electricity prices and spending of $1.45 billion out in corporate welfare, made with little accountability. Canadians and Albertans should carefully watch developments in Ontario, because they may be a blue print for the Federal Liberals and the Alberta NDP, who are both hell bent into the redistribution of wealth through climate change policies involving new taxes.
The success of the Liberals and the NPD are in my opinion rooted in the fact that most Canadians do not understand the differences in political ideology. Most Canadians make voting decisions based on information provided by a biased media. Since there are no media outlets to the right, there is only one side of the story. Now that the Liberals are in power, it is becoming very clear that Canadians were duped and bought a pig in a poke.
The federal Conservatives lost the elections, not necessarily due to Harper’s leadership or   bad policies but rather a lack of good communication. The campaign should have focussed on conservative values and the achievements of the past ten years rather than Justin Trudeau. The other major adverse factor was that rarely do governments win four elections in a row – it was just statistically improbable under the same leader.
As for Albertans the death of the Progressive Conservatives started with the elections of leaders who were more progressives than conservatives. The right was fragmented when Allison Redford first decided that conservative federal politicians were not welcomed at the PC’s AGM. After her demise, the party still chose another progressive to lead them resulting in their complete annihilation at the polls and gave Alberta a socialist government.
In the federal election board members of some constituencies, and even elected PC members supported Liberal candidates in Calgary. I do not tell people who to support, but I believe that one should step down or resign as a conservative member before one supports a liberal candidate. The right is fragmented in Alberta due to the treasonous floor crossing by some members of the Wildrose, helped by none other than Preston Manning.
Any movement to unite the right in Alberta should, in my opinion, come from the grassroots. The establishment, past and current elected members of both the Wildrose and the PCs should sit out the initial discussions. There is too much bad blood and mistrust in politicians for them to lead any talks of a united right. We have four years to get ready to oust the NDP government. We should make sure that a new party is made up of true conservatives and not Pretend Conservatives (PC) because they are responsible for the demise of the party. If you govern as a liberal it is very easy for the electorate to move further to the left, and they did.
Only when conservatives at all levels unite and behave like small ‘c’ common sense conservatives again that Conservatives shall form governments and get rid of the troglodytes.