Tuesday, November 27, 2007

MSM split on Harper's stand re: Kyoto

Well, it's hardly surprising that the left-wing media are all over Harper like a pack of jackals. The Record has this editorial offering today - Harper drops the ball on climate change.

Here's a classic line:

To be sure, implementing an international plan to deal with climate change will not be cheap. Every cleanup comes with a cost. Harper's approach of waiting for all countries to be able to pay is naive. It will just delay the process. If rich and poor houses on a street were on fire, would Harper wait until everyone paid the same taxes before calling the fire brigade?
What a weak analogy!!!

For one thing, Harper isn't 'refusing to call the fire brigade'. He simply realizes that it's pointless to fight a wildfire that's engulfing a whole neighbourhood if the poorer houses refuse to have their gas turned off. No matter how hard you try to stop your own house from burning, the fire from your neighbour's house is going to affect yours unless they stop it at the source.


Next they make this disingenuous comment:
Interestingly, Australia's prime minister, John Howard, who opposed Kyoto, has just been defeated by Labour Leader Kevin Ruud, who has pledged to sign the accord. From both a policy and a political perspective, Harper would be wise to become a more ardent opponent of climate change.

Well, Dr. John Ray from Brisbane thinks Rudd's stance is just so much hot air:

...And the resolve of Prime-minister-elect Kevin Rudd to sign the Kyoto treaty is a good example of such tokenism. Australia's emissions of carbon dioxide are already in line with what most of Europe has achieved so the signing will make little difference.

It should also be noted that Rudd will have to get the treaty through the Senate and, in a quirk of Australian politics, he is unlikely to be able to do that until July, 2008. Senate membership does not change until then and the present Senate is conservative-dominated. So Rudd's talk of "immediate" action is just the usual political flim-flam.

By contrast, the National Post has quite a different take on things than the Record - Standing tall in Uganda:

At the Commonwealth meeting in Uganda, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi professed himself "disappointed" with Mr. Harper's stand. No wonder. Under the original draft, nations such as Malaysia would have been subject to no emission limits unless they were also recipients of large cash payments.


Putting aside this attempted cash grab, our more fundamental objection to Kyoto, and any plan that requires large-scale cuts in greenhouse gasses, is that it would hobble our economy -- especially our already-struggling manufacturing sector. Mr. Dion may not admit it, but the drastic cuts he seeks would essentially kill whole industries -- including, most likely, Ontario's auto industry. In recent months, Mr. Harper has been accused of ignoring the financial needs of the Greater Toronto Area by snubbing its demands for more federal cash. Ironically, his rejection of the logic of Kyoto has, in one fell swoop, done more to help the region than any of the bailout schemes proposed by Mayor David Miller.


Exactly. With the auto manufacturing sector already on the skids and begging for help, signing Kyoto would only worsen an already troubled Ontario economy. People are losing their jobs. They have to eat and be housed.

And where does that money come from? Taxes.

Are you willing to pay the price?


* * * *
Related:

Tip from a loyal reader - Al Gore buddy owner of sunken ship that left huge carbon footprint on Antarctic Ocean floor: CFP.

Elizabeth May - Global Saboteur. Bourque gave this the following headline - Liz May: Climate Change Worse than Nazis.

Some people never learn.


Elizabeth May goes too far - EcoLibertarian.



20 comments:

maryT said...

Didn't Chretain exempt the auto industry from Kyoto.

Anonymous said...

OPPOSITION HOT AIR BLAMED FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IN CANADA

- that's my headline and I'm sticking to it as we head into the deep freeze for the next two weeks I'll be sure to remind all of the Liberals and MSM gumbies that more than cow farts the hot air spewing from them is far more dangerous to Canadians than is Stephen Harper's common sense approach.

Anonymous said...

Joanne - don't forget to add Elizabeth May's equating Harper to the Nazi's.....that's always good for more votes.

May is Dion's best friend too don't'ya know?

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Thanks, Anon. I'll add that link to May's declaration.

Calgary Junkie said...

I think it's time for the media to scrutinize the LPC's Carbon Budget Plan

The media could start by asking what the total costs will be to the "heavy emmitter industries".

Not surprisingly, after talking about how beneficial their plan is, the Liberals fail to put a bottom line cost to their whitepaper.

But come an election campaign, the pressure will be on them to produce their own budget, complete with cost projections. And it will have to be approved by a respected independent auditor.

That is when the $hit hits the fan on all the Liberal promises re Kyoto, Kelowna, Universal Child Care, revised equalization payments, etc etc.

Anonymous said...

Joanne, you have some great links here.

from The Record:
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper, for example, removed Rona Ambrose from the Environment Ministry after she appeared to be ineffective and replaced her with a more experienced minister, John Baird."
Nah-huh! He removed Rona Ambrose because he was fed up with the squealing and yelping hordes who attacked not only her handling of the portfolio but also her personally. Remember the "big hair" comments from all those caring environmentalists?

"Five years ago, he called Kyoto a money-sucking socialist scheme and doubted the validity of the complaints about global warming. While he is entitled to his opinion, his description of the agreement as a socialist scheme was silly. Cleaning up the environment is a non-ideological issue."
I don't have time to check back in Hansard, but then-opposition leader Harper's opposition to Kyoto was the fact that:
1. The Liberal government had NO plan for the implementation of Kyoto
2. What is paying countries for the right to emit GHGs if not a socialist scheme?

The environment a non-ideological issue? Then how come opponents of Kyoto are called ultra-right wing neo-cons and worse?

"Harper would be wise to become a more ardent opponent of climate change."
One definition of ardent: burning, fiery, or hot. Do we really need MORE hot air?

OK, I'm off to produce some GHGs of my own ... no, I don't own an SUV, but I can't avoid breathing while walking to my destination now, can I?

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Thanks, Gabby. I didn't have the energy to call them up on all the errors in their editorial -- this post would have been way too long.

However, now you can see what I have to put up with here in Liberal Redman-Telegdi la-la land.

Reid said...

Harper would be wise to become a more ardent opponent of climate change.

Why yes I agree wholeheartedly. I do think he, "would be wise to become a more ardent opponent of climate change," because I think that, for political reasons, he's still cowtowing too much at the AGW altar.

wise:
–adjective
1. having the power of discerning and judging properly as to what is true or right; possessing discernment, judgment, or discretion.
2. characterized by or showing such power; judicious or prudent: a wise decision.
3. possessed of or characterized by scholarly knowledge or learning; learned; erudite: wise in the law.
4. having knowledge or information as to facts, circumstances, etc.: We are wiser for their explanations.

ardent:
–adjective
1. having, expressive of, or characterized by intense feeling; passionate; fervent: an ardent vow; ardent love.
2. intensely devoted, eager, or enthusiastic; zealous: an ardent theatergoer. an ardent student of French history.

opponent:
–noun
1. a person who is on an opposing side in a game, contest, controversy, or the like; adversary.
–adjective
2. being opposite, as in position.

OMMAG said...

I e-mailed BessieMay asking whether the Canadian people could expect an apology for the Nazi references (again)...

Off Topic - You favorite LIberal from KW Karen Redman -- Liberals: Right of Government

jad said...

On the subject of Kevin Rudd, he is prepared to agree to the current Kyoto targets because Australia, having set more sensible targets in the first place is withinn 1% of attaining them. However he is apparently on the ecord as saying any future Kyoto agreement must include ALL countries.

I suspect he may not last too long as the lefties' new darling since although he is going to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq, he actually plans to send them to Afghanistan instead. Also, he is against same-sex marriage - quelle horreur !

For another side of what happened in Uganda, check out CTV reporter David Akin's blog at http://politicsblog.ctv.ca/blog/
November 24th entry titled "Mr Brown meets Mr Harper", particularly the second paragraph:

"And just yesterday, Gordon Brown’s men were running around the Commonwealth Summit telling anyone who would care to listen that Canada was the lone stick-in-the-mud when it came to getting anything done to prevent global warming ."

Anonymous said...

What a stupid strategic move by Dion to open up the environmental debate.
Who's advising this guy? Someone in the Liberal braintrust must realize that they are their own worst enemy when it comes to the environmental file.

I wonder what it is about them just not getting the job done in 10 years that they think will win them favour with voters?

If naming your pet Kyoto is proof of commitment perhaps Harper needs
to adopt a kitten and call it something appropriate?

Swift said...

The Record's analogy should be modified as follows:

The fire department receives a call that your house is on fire. Rushing to your house they observe there are no visible flames, so they conclude the fire must still be confined to the interior of the house. So they break down your door and pour thousands of gallons of water into every room. Still not finding any signs of the fire they start tearing the walls and ceilings apart. Soon they are ripping apart all your appliances. Continuing to struggle mightily save your house from burning down, the proceed to slash open all your upholstered furniture. Finally deciding it was a false alarm the pack up all their equipment. But before they go they hand you a bill for $18,000 for responding to a false alarm.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Swift, that's worth a letter to the editor! Absolutely brilliant!!!

Anonymous said...

The Record poll is gone. Must not like the results. Typical!

Joanne (True Blue) said...

The Record poll is gone

Oh, brother. How stupid is that? They don't even show past results.

Typical Record...

I'll take that link off the main post. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

"Why yes I agree wholeheartedly. I do think he, "would be wise to become a more ardent opponent of climate change," because I think that, for political reasons, he's still cowtowing too much at the AGW altar."

Hey, a dictionary war! It may not raise or lower the temperature, but it may raise the tenor of some discussions ;-)

Anonymous said...

from the Dr. John Ray site:

UN climate circus rolls in on CO2 cloud
"IT HAS been billed as the summit that could help save the planet, but the latest United Nations climate change conference on the paradise island of Bali has itself become a major contributor to global warming. Calculations suggest flying the 15,000 politicians, civil servants, green campaigners and television crews into Indonesia will generate the equivalent of 100,000 tonnes of extra CO2. That is similar to the entire annual emissions of the African state of Chad."

The opposition and some climate change activists are accusing the government of not carrying on the tradition of inviting them to attend the Bali gab fest.

How about reducing their own individual carbon footprint by staying home?
All those caring eco-tourists who are leaving their garbage on the slopes of Everest, the Kilimanjaro, the tropical forests, and now at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean - why not use that time doing something more constructive?

Joanne (True Blue) said...

How about reducing their own individual carbon footprint by staying home?

Bingo!

In fact why don't they all stay home and set up a teleconference?

hunter said...

In question period today, Baird quoted from the Prime Minister, about how all countries had to be included, except it wasn't PM Harper, it was PM Rudd he was quoting. It's worth watching.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Hunter, I saw that too! It was great. I must try to remember to find that in Hansard tomorrow.