LoveCanada

The point is focus. It is futile to point the firehose at the weeds on fire in the flower bed when the entire house is going up in flames.

And right now to put out the fire the focus should be on the countries that can actually make a difference, primarily China, the US, India and EU next.

But those also happen to be our biggest trading partners. So in a capitalist country like Canada no one, including the government, wants to damage the bottom line, so instead of having a policy with some teeth like "we will cut our trade with those countries by half until they lower their emissions" what is the message you hear? You hear, "Buy an EV, save the planet" "Get solar panels, save the planet" as if that's going to actually a dent in emissions in Canada.

It will make an imperceptible dent but the resounding message is please continue to buy buy buy more products and DONT stop spending money on our trading partners. That doesnt make sense and its why I know that our gov's are not actually serious about climate change.

You'll notice in these latest talks about pipelines that the gov often mentions indigenous groups as they are the primary protesters for any new pipeline. But it really didnt make sense for them to protest (and do massive vandalism of heavy equipment at one location) when the TransMountain was just a twinning of a pipeline that was already there since 1953. There will always be some bands that protest, but the majority are in favor because they also gain employment and royalties.

It was fascinating to listen to a CBC Special a few years back when they traveled across western Canada to ask people how they felt about the pipeline that was running under their property. The majority of people they spoke to, rural or urban, had NO idea there was even a pipeline underneath them. If they dont even know it, it obviously is not impacting their lives in any negative way. But people gotta protest anyway.

We’re actually polluting more than the US per capita.

The planet does not care about PER CAPITA emissions which is exactly why this is a GLOBAL problem and not a Canadian problem. If there was ONE person in Canada emitting 1.5% of the world's emissions, 98.5% of it would still not be coming from Canada so that per capita argument is moot. The climate only care about totals.

until we’re left as one of the biggest emitters

Mathematically impossible. China could score a MASSIVE feat and cut their emissions by 1/3 and they would STILL emit fifteen times more than Canada. We will NEVER be one of the biggest emitters because we are such a tiny emitter to begin with.

Going back to my initial analogy, the climate is not going to notice if we give up our teaspoon and start using a thimble when China is still using a 3.5 gallon pail instead of a 5 gallon pail to sink the boat.

Im not using feelings, Im using reason and math. 1/3 less of China's 33% emissions is an 11% reduction. 1/3 less of Canada's 1.5% emissions is 0.5% which is a margin of error in the science that is based on a computer calculated formula with inexact inputs.

I said its 'half real' as in I believe its the only half the cause for climate change.

As for reason lets try a little reason here: Lets say Canada were to drop into the ocean. The entire country ceases to exist. Now that we've removed that 1.5% of global emissions, the change in the climate is now what? Almost nothing. Because 98.5% of emissions weren't even coming from us, and the globe did not even notice when it was 1.5% less. The world still continues to warm, the climate continues to change. CANADA. DOESNT. MATTER. on the global scale.

Even less logical is the people who just want to kill the entire Canadian Oil and Gas industry. So that would reduce global emissions by 0.5% at MOST. Lovely. Now the world still has 99.5% of the same emissions, but we also have thousands and thousands of people out of work. We are now IMPORTING oil and gas because we still need it, even if we didnt use it for gas/diesel which means production increases elsewhere, likely Saudi Arabia where there are less environmental controls. The gov's now have to raise billions more in taxes because oil revenues are gone, so everyone is now facing major tax hikes on top of crazy high inflation. Seems like a lovely scenario - especially since NO ONE in the world is going to notice or be better off because emissions have only minutely changed. It makes NO sense.

Who is the "we" that didn't want the Trans Mountain pipeline? Would that be the Gov of Canada that gets about 1.25 billion in revenue this year from the pipeline? Would that be the 15,000 well paid employees that built and run the pipeline? Would that be the AB and BC gov's who gain a lot of income tax from those employees? Would that be the people in China, South Korea, Japan, and India who buy most of that oil so they don't have to burn coal to power their industries and don't have to rely on shady countries like Russia? Or is it Quebecers who benefit from 14 BILLION a year in transfer payments, the vast majority of which comes from Alberta's oil revenues? Which "we" are we referring to?

Glad you warned 'everyone' about my 'doomerist propaganda'.

Or maybe I just think for myself, look at the facts as best as they can be determined, and don't buy into the 'doom and gloom' propaganda that says we're all going to be dead from climate change in the next few years.

I didnt say ANY emissions policy in Canada is pointless. REASONABLE and moderate policy is fine, but things like requiring all cars sold in Canada to be EVs by 2035 are just ridiculous and wrong headed, especially in Canada (and I even drive one).

Your first comment is outlandish and not anything close to the opinion I presented.

And yes, you're saying exactly the same thing I did when you agree that we're responsible for moving our production elsewhere. Thats my point. We still buy everything from China and THAT'S the world's primary polluter not the oil and gas industry.

1.5% for Canada's emissions.

38% just from two countries - China and the US. Throw in India and its 44% of global emissions. From 3 countries out of 195.

98.5% of global emissions are NOT from Canada. We are barely a teaspoon.

He's definitely rankled. But I dont think his 'goose is cooked'. Yet.

If Jeneroux had crossed the floor I think it would be another story but he's still swearing allegiance to Poilievre even those his reasons for resigning "in the spring" are shrouded in mystery. And I'm 100% sure that there are very strong messages going out from Poilievre's office to every Conservative MP to test their allegiance.

The tricky part for the Conservatives that would have said "Id rather die than be a Liberal" under Trudeau is that Carney is basically a Conservative in a red suit. He dropped the consumer carbon tax, he's open to expanding oil and gas, he's dropped almost all of his climate change rhetoric (a massive shift), he's presented a tax break for us peons, he wants to cut the public service bloat, he's demanding a 15% reduction in dept budgets, he's NOT focusing on identity issues and he's not a drama guy who cant make a sincere speech - I mean there's a lot there for a Conservative to like.

Given that, if some Liberal 'operative' comes along and says "Mr Carney just wants you to know that if you join us, there's a plum job waiting for you with the extended pay and benefits and we could probably find a slice of the 150 billion budget to spend in your riding - whaddya want? A new recreational center with your name on it?" Tempting indeed.

If a fishing boat is sinking because there are two big guys sitting on the stern and scooping 5 gallon buckets of water into it as fast as they can, its absolutely pointless to yell at the guy at the bow dribbling it in with a teaspoon, "Do your part and use a thimble instead!"

The only way to make any measurable difference in emissions is to slow down or stop those two guys with the buckets.

The world isn't 'sinking' because Canada isn't doing enough. Its sinking because we support and buy every product that China and the US produce and our multinational companies and gov leaders have no intention of stopping that and Canadians have very little desire to pay more for goods that cost more but pollute less. If you shop at Amazon, Walmart, Temu, Alibaba, Aliexpress you're the reason we're sinking.

Like I mentioned, mine's an airgun. Not required to be in a safe.

If a cold country is asking for our gas, especially to eliminate dependence on a hostile foreign regime, that is definitely a worldwide improvement and harm reduction for millions of people. Its wishful thinking to say 'eliminate it' but thats not going to happen overnight, if ever, in some countries. If we have the resource NOW and they need it NOW, then its in their best interest AND ours to sell it to them now.