Going the wrong way up a dead-end street

I wonder if it's a gift or does it have to be learned.

I'm talking about the Harper government consistently backing the wrong horse, or whatever metaphor you might want to use.

"Critics at the Bali climate change conference are lumping Canada with the U.S., which they say is refusing to commit to deep emissions reductions, thereby hijacking the conference."

We are lumped in with the U.S., thanks to the Harperites and their forelock-tugging to the almighty Bush administration. Harper backed the invasion of Iraq, he thought the mining of southern Lebanon with unexploded cluster bombs by Israel was a "measured response", and now he thinks that backing Bush in his destruction of the planet is a good idea.

"There is a wrecking crew here in Bali, led by the Bush administration and its minions. Those minions continue to be the governments of Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia and others," said Jennifer Morgan, of the Climate Change Network."

Canada is a key part of the dispute, Chao said. On Thursday, Environment Minister John Baird told members Canada is feeling first-hand the effects of climate change, but said the proposed targets are impossible for Canada to achieve.

Of course we can achieve them, but the oil and gas business might take a hit, and the major polluters would have to put some of their gazillions in profit into cleaning up their act. Can't have that. Profit is king, and they paid to get this government elected. They OWN it.

The plan being proposed by Baird would reduce emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 regardless of what comes out of the Bali conference. But the reductions would be from 2006 emissions levels, instead of 1990 levels, which many nations agree is a good starting point for emissions reductions.

"So right after this speech, Bangladesh's representative came out to call Canada's position immoral, dishonest, working against the interests of the planet and working against the interests of individual Canadians," Chao said.

I'm glad to see the rest of the world hammering the Canadian delegation. Do they know that they only represent a little over a third of Canadians? And that's whom they're protecting. The rest of us can just drown in their effluent or choke on their emissions.

"The members, on learning that Canada was trying to set targets at 2006 levels, said that Canada was being misleading and trying to undermine the trust of the talks here among nations," Chao said.

The Three Stooges

I hope you haven't just eaten when you see this picture of "Curly" Baird, "Larry" Harper, and Harper's "new" best friend "Moe" Charest, present leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, formerly a federal Conservative.

What the heck, eh? Since party names don't mean much anymore and loyalty to any one party is bought and sold, let's scrap the party system and vote for individuals without party affiliation who are deserving of the office.

Baird Emits Greenhouse Gases

Not content with pointing fingers, a bullying manner and an appearance of impending apoplexy when speaking in Parliament, the newly minted federal environment minister John Baird is now misquoting Al Gore by saying or implying that Gore supports Harper's environmental policies. This is the same John Baird who was instrumental in getting Ottawa's light rail system scrapped to settle a political score. Juvenile and dangerous.

Gore, of course, was applauding Canada's previous support of the Kyoto accord which Harper and his buddies scrapped as soon as they got into office, saying that the Kyoto limits were unattainable and would cause the collapse of the Canadian economy.

These fatuous assertions remind me of bar and restaurant owners who warn of financial collapse if they are required to run smoke-free establishments, only to find that business picks up when customers no longer have to risk disease and death to have a meal or a drink.

Now, Harper is dispensing $1.5 billion dollars to the provinces to develop emission-reduction technologies. Excuse me if I don't hold my breath while waiting to see how that turns out. Or maybe I'll have to. A repeat of last summer's orange air for days on end may require it.

Although neither the present nor the previous Environment ministers appear to have many qualifications for the job, at least Rona Ambrose has better hair.