From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2019 09:43:35 -0400
Subject: Methinks Trudeau the Younger and his minions should notice my comment in ths CBC "News" Item is one of the most llike threads right now at least before CBC makes it go "Poof"
N'esy Pas?
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca, andrew.scheer@parl.gc.ca, maxime.bernier@parl.gc.ca, leader@greenparty.ca, David.Lametti@parl.gc.ca,
David.Lametti.a1@parl.gc.ca, mcu@justice.gc.ca, jan.jensen@justice.gc.ca, Nathalie.Drouin@justice.gc.ca, Newsroom@globeandmail.com, andre@jafaust.com,
wharrison@nbpower.com, david.eidt@gnb.ca, blaine.higgs@gnb.ca,
robert.mckee@gnb.ca, hugh.flemming@gnb.ca, andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca,
sutherland.marie@
Cc: david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Jane.Philpott@parl.gc.ca, Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.
steve.murphy@ctv.ca, Lisa.Bourque@gnb.ca, oldmaison@yahoo.com, carl.urquhart@gnb.ca, carl.davies@gnb.ca
https://davidraymondamos3.
Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Climate change is on the move — but the political debate is standing still
https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies
David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @Kathryn98967631 and 47 others
Methinks the political solutions to all problems are photo opps, speeches and then raise the taxes N'esy Pas?
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/04/climate-change-is-on-move-but-political.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/climate-change-carbon-tax-trudeau-scheer-1.5115109
Climate change is on the move — but the political debate is standing still
3358 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.
David R. Amos
I can't help but wonder if the politicians read all the comments
David R. Amos
The political solutions to all problems are photo opps, speeches and then raise the taxes.
George Bath
Reply to @David R. Amos: if humans are the problem why wouldn't humans accept and bear the responsibility?
David R. Amos
Reply to @george bath: I blame the Sun King
David R. Amos
Reply to @george
bath: Methinks if Trudeau's peoplekind build fancy homes on flood plains
or downriver from man made dams etc then they should not be surprised
if Mother Nature makes things get wet from time to time when the days
are not particularly sunny N'esy Pas?
Murray
Brown
Reply to @David R. Amos: ... You mean... The political solution to Trudeau's problems... And he has lots of them.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Murray
Brown: Methinks Trudeau The Younger has quite an ethical dilemma dealing
with the lawsuit I filed against the Crown when Harper was the Prime
Minister N'esy Pas?
Ryan Jason
Reply to @David R. Amos: :Methinks if Trudeau's peoplekind build fancy homes" You are aware that 99.9% of these homes were all built long before Trudeau got into power right? But now somehow you are suggesting that Trudeau is responsible for building near flood plains over the last 60 years?
David R. Amos
Reply to @Ryan Jason: Methinks everybody knows that farmers have been working flood plains for thousands of years but are clever enough to build their houses on higher ground. It appears to me the elite who want waterfront property lack the common sense to know that they should build their fine houses on stilts N'esy Pas?
Matt Thuaii
Reply to @David R. Amos:
He will be voted out, Scheer will get in. He’ll play the “I’m for the little man,” and “good ol’ days” cards, then make things far worse selling out our futures to the highest bidder, deregulating and bending over backward for corporate interests. The whole time he’ll blame Trudeau for how bad things are, the once he’s gone, the next PM will be blamed for the mess Scheer left...
...and that cycle will repeat again...and again...and again...
David R. Amos
David R. Amos
Reply to @Matt Thuaii: "He will be voted out, Scheer will get in"
Methinks Maxime and Manning are helping the right wingers to spit up again because Harper 2.0 is as dumb as a post Hence the liberals may win a minority mandate in October N'esy Pas?
Cyrus Manz
Content disabled
Here we go again, some town gets flooded because politicians EMBEZZLED PUBLIC FUNDS instead of spending it on maintaining and expanding infrastructure, and we are BOMBARDED with CLIMATE CHANGE CULT FOLKLORE instead.
Bob Toso:
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: Well those weather events that were classified as once in a hundred years are happening every three or four years now
Cyrus Manz
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: "Like I said, CLIMATE-CULT FOLKLORE "
I second that remark
Ryan Jason
Content disabled
Reply to @David R. Amos: Accelerated climate change is essentially proven science and now we are seeing the measureable effects in our environment. How much proof do you need before you realize you are wrong. More importantly, I notice a lot of people post against the science, but yet offer no reason as to why they don't believe it is real.
Cyrus Manz
Content disabled
Reply to @Ryan Jason:
!!!...."Accelerated climate change is essentially proven science "....!!!
No, it is nothing more than pseudoscience and folklore.
Accelerate expansion of human population, is a fact though.
It is also a fact that an expanded human settlement will naturally be more prone to the impact of WEATHER changes.
This is where politicians who's job it is to MAINTAIN AND EXPAND INFRASTRUCTURE, FAIL time an again and instead blame their failures on an mythical "climate change" and HUMANS for causing it.
A great little scam to blame you for the weather and their own failures at the same time and end up TAXING you for your CARBON too.
Ryan Jason
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: Methinks folks should ask me about some very inconvenient truths I know about Gore, Bush, Clinton, Biden et al N'esy Pas?
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: "A great little scam to blame you for the weather and their own failures at the same time and end up TAXING you for your CARBON too'"
Methinks that is how the wicked game is played N'esy Pas?
Chris Hatherley
there have been floods every year since I was growing up. Called spring thaw.
David R. Amos
Dustin Carey
Reply to @David R. Amos:
Record high water levels are, by definition, not your average spring thaw.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Dustin Carey: Methinks they are called floods which happened mostly on the "Flood Plains" N'esy Pas?
David Lawlor
Reply to @Chris Hatherley:
I read that there was never flooding in the Garden of Eden or before 1850
David R. Amos
Reply to @david lawlor: Methinks it is not wise to believe everything you read N'esy Pas?
Chris Hatherley
Reply to @Matt Thuaii: You guys ignore information that doesn't match your agenda. For instance we had some record cold or long winters. If you look at the "ice off" dates for lake Nippising (North Bay Ontario) for the last 100 years, you will see that a year ago was one of the longer ones. You will also note that Toronto had some record cold temperature. But, the game has changed and you no longer call it "global warming"....you call it "climate change". Yes, we do have climate change, every day, every year. Look at the droughts during the great depression and the prairies were a dustbowl. There are accurate ice records going back 100's of thousands of years and they show cycles of warming and cooling or low and high levels of gas. I think striving for fuel efficient cars is a good idea as the resource is limited. I think that reducing pollution (and particular disposable plastic) is a great thing. But this obsession with man-made climate change or CO2 generation has gone too far. You really need to compare human generated CO2 vs volcanic or other sources. Why did plants evolve to need/use CO2, and what would happen to plants without it?
Peter Baxter
Lovely article ..... just that they forgot to mention that Canada at most accounts for 1-2% of Global emissions and consequently, has absolutely no ability to make any measurable effect on the problem. Jump up and down, scream at the moon, tax ourselves into poverty, eliminate 100% of Canadian emissions, no effect! But it was nice of them to stick the picture of Justin filling sandbags... without mentioning that the real volunteers were very upset that Trudeau's photo op slowed down progress and that he just got in the way
George Bath
Andrew Hillman
Reply to @Charly Vaughan: Typical CBC political debate - the one with the cleverer insults thinks he's won. Which changes no one's mind on the subject.
Methinks you should have a long talk with Mr Trump N'esy Pas?
Jim Redmond
Climate change is obviously happening, as it has been for millions of years. And yes, climate change is significantly exaggerated by the media for political reasons. And no, humans aren't causing the change.
Matt Thuaii:
Reply to @Kelly Nelson:
You’re half right. 97% of scientists don’t agree that the current short term, rapid climate changes (and the associated increased frequency of natural disasters) are man made...
...99.9% do.
David R. Amos
Colin Smith
Reply to @Jim Redmond:
Humans are too causing. That's common sense. Any animal impacts climate change when it gets to population that is excessive. You can not take humans out of the equation as we are animals on this planet too just like everything else. We have an impact. Can we change that, I'm not convinced we can. Nature will take care of it all. It won't be pretty and we won't like it. You know flooding, storms and such that destroy and kill. It will just become fact of life. Then when the diseases hit and wars start from mass migrations of people the population of humans will significantly decrease. It will cost us lot money as that happens too. Here in Canada we are fortunate. Places like China and India are at high risk.
David R. Amos
Kathleen Maduro
Harrison Ford arriving in Montreal on his private jet, tail # N6GU [November Six Gulf Uniform] for Justin Trudeau's #NatureSummit. First thing he asked for when he landed was where the Shell (jet fuel) station was. Not as bad as Leonardo DiCaprio cruising in the biggest private yacht in the world up and down the Brazilian coast during World Cup, but terrible nevertheless. To think these guys are the face of global warming alarmists! Either they really don’t believe a word they say, or they really do believe they are royalties not bound by laws they advocate for the hoi polloi. Or both.
Max Kaminsky
Reply to @Kathleen Maduro:
Gas up the jet CB, time to return to my high Carbon footprint vacation in Tofino.
James Bilodeau
Ryan Jason
Reply to @David R. Amos: So actors attempting to use their influence to promote change is bad, but corporate CEOs doing the same thing, only they are actively participating in the problem are somehow good?
Matt Thuaii
Reply to @James Bilodeau:
I could not care less what rich entertainers think about most things. I care what I think. I think the climate is shifting dramatically, in my lifetime, and any reputable science I’ve seen on the subject backs that up. In fact, anyone can look up the images of melting Arctic sea ice taken from space, and see the shrinking coverage for themselves...
...so I also believe what my eyes tell me.
David R. Amos
Ryan Jason
Reply to @David R. Amos: "However I strongly dispute the cause of it as is my right to do N'esy Pas?" True, you could also claim that 1+1=3, as that too is your right, but it doesn't make you right... see the difference.
Paul Howell
Justin Trudeau did not like what a volunteer was saying. The volunteer was saying that Trudeau's photo op was stopping the sand bagging from moving out by trucks. Trudeau did not like what the volunteer was saying so Trudeau and another Liberal were pushing around the volunteer, telling him to be quiet and in the end Trudeau called the volunteer names. The volunteer was there to help, Trudeau was there for photo ops.
Steven Scott
Reid Cowper
How much of Canada's 1.6% of the world's ghg emissions do we have to cut to stop the flooding?
George Bath
Larry Mackenzie
Reply to @george bath:
Lake Trudeau's jet? That's a big contraption. A vacation machine.
George Bath
Peter Baxter
Reply to @Reid Cowper: He can't answer! No one can .... because it is impossible to defend the myth that reducing Canadian emissions, by any amount, will have any effect on Global Warming. Cutting our emissions dramatically will not even result in a rounding error to measuring the real problem
George Bath
Reply to @Reid Cowper: continue to obfuscate the facts about the effects of fossil fuels pollution with straw man arguments.
Peter Baxter
Reply to @george bath: Nothing like using the word obfuscate to obfuscate the real facts while insinuating the opposite
David R. Amos
Reply to @Reid Cowper: "It's a simple question george that you won't answer. "
Methinks he never will N'esy Pas?
David R. Amos
Reply to @Reid Cowper: "Still no answer. How about an educated guess?"
Methinks he must have joined the chorus of crickets I hear in the background N'esy Pas?
James Fitzgibbon
Reply to @Reid Cowper:
Well, Sparky, there are actually other nations in the world beside Canada and they, too, are tackling climate change. Why, many of them have had carbon pricing for years, including most of the richest nations on earth. Germany, for example. So we only need to worry about cleaning up our own mess, not everyone else's.
But hey, let's apply your "logic" to your street. How about I just throw my garbage on your street. I'm sure you won't mind. After all, my garbage is only a small part of the total amount of garbage.
Paul Howell
A great picture of Justin Trudeau shoveling it again.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Paul Howell: "A great picture of Justin Trudeau shoveling it again."
Well Put Sir
Philip Nicholson
Reply to @Paul Howell: Scheer was there too ( with sand covered jeans) but surprisingly, the CBC failed to mention it *cough*
Alan Bardsley
Rob Preston
Yes there is climate change. Yes there is divided reasons for it and how to deal with it. Liberals want to tax everyone for it, and the right want a real plan how to stop it. It is a political debate. And it will be a factor in October's election.
George Bath
Ryan Jason
Reply to @Rob Preston: "the right want a real plan how to stop it." And what plan would that be? I hear a lot of complaints from the "right", but one thing I have never heard, is talk about a plan on how to stop it. FYI, you can't stop it, the time for serious action was in the 90s under Kyoto, mitigation is the new normal.
Thomas Collins
So the recent report from "scientists" that says Canada is warming rapidly only used 70 years of data on a 4.5 billion year old planet. That's like a single drop in a vast ocean. PLUS they conveniently left out the data from the hot and dry Dirty Thirties which would have mitigated their numbers substantially. PLUS they conveniently released their findings at the same time as Justin's carbon tax. This report wasn't science, it was pure politics.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Thomas Collins: "PLUS they conveniently released their findings at the same time as Justin's carbon tax. This report wasn't science, it was pure politics."
Methinks everything political is always about the money N'esy Pas?
Sammy Redfeather
When the Ottawa river flooded two years apart in 1974 and again in 1976 was that climate change?...1909?, 1928?,1947?, 1951?...all climate change?
Bob Terwilliger
David R. Amos
Reply to @Paul Andrew Cerniuk: I doubt he even read it because he posted the same reply in other comment threads
Ryan Jason
Reply to @David R. Amos: :Methinks if Trudeau's peoplekind build fancy homes" You are aware that 99.9% of these homes were all built long before Trudeau got into power right? But now somehow you are suggesting that Trudeau is responsible for building near flood plains over the last 60 years?
David R. Amos
Reply to @Ryan Jason: Methinks everybody knows that farmers have been working flood plains for thousands of years but are clever enough to build their houses on higher ground. It appears to me the elite who want waterfront property lack the common sense to know that they should build their fine houses on stilts N'esy Pas?
Matt Thuaii
Reply to @David R. Amos:
He will be voted out, Scheer will get in. He’ll play the “I’m for the little man,” and “good ol’ days” cards, then make things far worse selling out our futures to the highest bidder, deregulating and bending over backward for corporate interests. The whole time he’ll blame Trudeau for how bad things are, the once he’s gone, the next PM will be blamed for the mess Scheer left...
...and that cycle will repeat again...and again...and again...
David R. Amos
Reply to @Matt
Thuaii: Methinks you are beginning to understand why I am preparing to
run for public office for the 7th time Perhaps you should too N'esy Pas?
David R. Amos
Reply to @Matt Thuaii: "He will be voted out, Scheer will get in"
Methinks Maxime and Manning are helping the right wingers to spit up again because Harper 2.0 is as dumb as a post Hence the liberals may win a minority mandate in October N'esy Pas?
Cyrus Manz
Content disabled
Here we go again, some town gets flooded because politicians EMBEZZLED PUBLIC FUNDS instead of spending it on maintaining and expanding infrastructure, and we are BOMBARDED with CLIMATE CHANGE CULT FOLKLORE instead.
Bob Toso:
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: Well those weather events that were classified as once in a hundred years are happening every three or four years now
Cyrus Manz
Content disabled
Reply to @Bob Toso:
Like I said, CLIMATE-CULT FOLKLORE
Like I said, CLIMATE-CULT FOLKLORE
Darin Fortin
Content disabled
Reply to @Bob Toso: no they are not
Bob Terwilliger
Content disabled
Reply to @Bob Toso: No they are not. You're being misled.
Daryl Dixon
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz:
Why do reformers dislike Canada Cyrus?
Why do reformers dislike Canada Cyrus?
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: "Like I said, CLIMATE-CULT FOLKLORE "
I second that remark
Ryan Jason
Content disabled
Reply to @David R. Amos: Accelerated climate change is essentially proven science and now we are seeing the measureable effects in our environment. How much proof do you need before you realize you are wrong. More importantly, I notice a lot of people post against the science, but yet offer no reason as to why they don't believe it is real.
Cyrus Manz
Content disabled
Reply to @Ryan Jason:
!!!...."Accelerated climate change is essentially proven science "....!!!
No, it is nothing more than pseudoscience and folklore.
Accelerate expansion of human population, is a fact though.
It is also a fact that an expanded human settlement will naturally be more prone to the impact of WEATHER changes.
This is where politicians who's job it is to MAINTAIN AND EXPAND INFRASTRUCTURE, FAIL time an again and instead blame their failures on an mythical "climate change" and HUMANS for causing it.
A great little scam to blame you for the weather and their own failures at the same time and end up TAXING you for your CARBON too.
Ryan Jason
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: "No, it is nothing more than pseudoscience and folklore." Virtually every scientific organization on the planet would disagree with you. What proof do you have, other than your opinion, that accelerated climate change is not real. The tip of my proof can be found here; https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
There is literally a mountain of evidence now proving that man has accelerated the warming of the planet, via corporate pollution. What evidence do you have?
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: "No, it is nothing more than pseudoscience and folklore." Virtually every scientific organization on the planet would disagree with you. What proof do you have, other than your opinion, that accelerated climate change is not real. The tip of my proof can be found here; https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
There is literally a mountain of evidence now proving that man has accelerated the warming of the planet, via corporate pollution. What evidence do you have?
Cyrus Manz
Content disabled
Reply to @Ryan Jason:
Under CLIMATE CON-ARTIST OBAMA, all US Federal agencies were politicized in order to spout this nonsense.
NASA wasn't the only one. NOAA, USSG and all others were politicized too.
Reply to @Ryan Jason:
Under CLIMATE CON-ARTIST OBAMA, all US Federal agencies were politicized in order to spout this nonsense.
NASA wasn't the only one. NOAA, USSG and all others were politicized too.
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: Methinks folks should ask me about some very inconvenient truths I know about Gore, Bush, Clinton, Biden et al N'esy Pas?
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Cyrus Manz: "A great little scam to blame you for the weather and their own failures at the same time and end up TAXING you for your CARBON too'"
Methinks that is how the wicked game is played N'esy Pas?
Chris Hatherley
there have been floods every year since I was growing up. Called spring thaw.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Chris Hatherley: I noticed the same thing about spring thaws
Reply to @David R. Amos:
Record high water levels are, by definition, not your average spring thaw.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Dustin Carey: Methinks they are called floods which happened mostly on the "Flood Plains" N'esy Pas?
David Lawlor
Reply to @Chris Hatherley:
I read that there was never flooding in the Garden of Eden or before 1850
David R. Amos
Reply to @david lawlor: Methinks it is not wise to believe everything you read N'esy Pas?
Chris Hatherley
Reply to @Matt Thuaii: You guys ignore information that doesn't match your agenda. For instance we had some record cold or long winters. If you look at the "ice off" dates for lake Nippising (North Bay Ontario) for the last 100 years, you will see that a year ago was one of the longer ones. You will also note that Toronto had some record cold temperature. But, the game has changed and you no longer call it "global warming"....you call it "climate change". Yes, we do have climate change, every day, every year. Look at the droughts during the great depression and the prairies were a dustbowl. There are accurate ice records going back 100's of thousands of years and they show cycles of warming and cooling or low and high levels of gas. I think striving for fuel efficient cars is a good idea as the resource is limited. I think that reducing pollution (and particular disposable plastic) is a great thing. But this obsession with man-made climate change or CO2 generation has gone too far. You really need to compare human generated CO2 vs volcanic or other sources. Why did plants evolve to need/use CO2, and what would happen to plants without it?
Chris Hatherley
Reply to @Brian Cohen:
how old is the world? how long have we been keeping records? Why was
the bearing straight open? - what was the ice age? how warm was world
in prehistoric ages? Just last year North Bay almost hit the record for
the longest time for ice off the lake. See http://ufrca.com/index.php?page=ice-out-dates
. You will also note the earliest date was in 1945. Things change.
As for your "ignorance is bliss" comment, I would say that I have taken
my information from multiple sources. It is hard not to get
'bombarded' by the media, moviestars & now politicians on 'climate
change, climate change, climate change'. But.....what do the thinking
scientists say? Not the scientists applying for government grants
(awarded to anyone that studies "climate change", and not the scientists
paid for by industry....but a thinking, rational, unbiased scientist.
You may be surprised if you look. Focus on pollution and poisoning of
water sources and not 'global warming' and CO2 gas reduction. Get rid
of the plastic in the oceans. We should be incinerating our garbage and
only recycling metal.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Chris Hatherley: Well put
Peter Baxter
Lovely article ..... just that they forgot to mention that Canada at most accounts for 1-2% of Global emissions and consequently, has absolutely no ability to make any measurable effect on the problem. Jump up and down, scream at the moon, tax ourselves into poverty, eliminate 100% of Canadian emissions, no effect! But it was nice of them to stick the picture of Justin filling sandbags... without mentioning that the real volunteers were very upset that Trudeau's photo op slowed down progress and that he just got in the way
George Bath
Reply to @Peter Baxter:
actually peter coal fires, hydrocarbon emissions contributed to the poor air, land and water quality.
now that we have changed the rules the pollution has been reduced.
cars still pollute peter.
actually peter coal fires, hydrocarbon emissions contributed to the poor air, land and water quality.
now that we have changed the rules the pollution has been reduced.
cars still pollute peter.
Larry
Mackenzie
Reply to @Peter Baxter:
Well, it was an article by Wherry... .. .
Well, it was an article by Wherry... .. .
George Bath
Reply to @Larry
Mackenzie: well what other web sites do you alberta populists get your
college level climate change education from: Fox, drudge useless
american websites?
Peter
Baxter
Reply to @george
bath: Actually George....the article is about climate change....that
phenomena that some link to greenhouse gas emissions.......global GHG
emissions.....global coal fires, global hydrocarbon emissions....and
they really have nothing to do with poor air......and only influence
land and water indirectly.
Dave Burns
Reply to @Peter
Baxter: Why would they need to mention the volunteer who was upset at
Trudeau in this article when there was an entire article about that the
day it happened?
Peter
Baxter
Reply to @Dave Burns:
Well.....they put in the photo making it look like he was helping....so
I feel it would be appropriate to at least a include a subtitle to let
folks know that he was actually jeopardizing the well being of
Canadians in order to look good for a photo op. They say a picture tells
a thousand words.....if that is true, then that photo is a thousand
words of untruth!
David R. Amos
Reply to @Peter
Baxter: "it was nice of them to stick the picture of Justin filling
sandbags... without mentioning that the real volunteers were very upset
that Trudeau's photo op slowed down progress and that he just got in the
way"
Methinks many would agree that photo was the best part of this article N'esy Pas?
Methinks many would agree that photo was the best part of this article N'esy Pas?
Norm Dixon
Reply to @Peter Baxter: Perception is EVERYTHING!!!!
Carmen Lucas
Reply to @Peter Baxter:
So we should bury our heads in the sand, and do nothing. Great plan.
So we should bury our heads in the sand, and do nothing. Great plan.
Charly Vaughan
Reply to @Peter Baxter: typical cdn political debate educated vs uneducated
Matt Thuaii
Reply to @Peter Baxter:
I don’t own a fire truck...
...I’m still going to try to pull my neighbour out of his burning home if I get there first.
I don’t own a fire truck...
...I’m still going to try to pull my neighbour out of his burning home if I get there first.
Andrew Hillman
Reply to @Charly Vaughan: Typical CBC political debate - the one with the cleverer insults thinks he's won. Which changes no one's mind on the subject.
Brad Mercier
Reply to @Peter Baxter: Yup good old CBC, they are out electioneering already.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Andrew Hillman: Oh So True
David R. Amos
Reply to @Brad Mercier: YUP
David R. Amos
Reply to @James Fitzgibbon : "Wake up. Educate yourself, Sparky."
Reply to @Brad Mercier: YUP
David R. Amos
Reply to @James Fitzgibbon : "Wake up. Educate yourself, Sparky."
Methinks you should have a long talk with Mr Trump N'esy Pas?
Jim Redmond
Climate change is obviously happening, as it has been for millions of years. And yes, climate change is significantly exaggerated by the media for political reasons. And no, humans aren't causing the change.
Aaron
Jones
Reply to @Jim
Redmond: Jim perhaps you could provide your research to NASA as they
have a page dedicated the the 97% consensus that climate change is real
and man made.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Jim Redmond: "humans aren't causing the change."
I agree
I agree
Kelly Nelson
Reply to @Aaron
Jones: You best check that 97% fact, it's been debated/debunked several
times. Look at how that statistic was manipulated to look like 1000's of
scientists agreed, when in reality it was less than 100. In that
particular study of the "consensus"
Matt Thuaii:
Reply to @Kelly Nelson:
You’re half right. 97% of scientists don’t agree that the current short term, rapid climate changes (and the associated increased frequency of natural disasters) are man made...
...99.9% do.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Matt Thuaii: I disagree
Colin Smith
Reply to @Jim Redmond:
Humans are too causing. That's common sense. Any animal impacts climate change when it gets to population that is excessive. You can not take humans out of the equation as we are animals on this planet too just like everything else. We have an impact. Can we change that, I'm not convinced we can. Nature will take care of it all. It won't be pretty and we won't like it. You know flooding, storms and such that destroy and kill. It will just become fact of life. Then when the diseases hit and wars start from mass migrations of people the population of humans will significantly decrease. It will cost us lot money as that happens too. Here in Canada we are fortunate. Places like China and India are at high risk.
David R. Amos
Reply to @colin smith: "Humans are too causing. That's common sense"
Hence another tax is gonna save peoplekind???
Hence another tax is gonna save peoplekind???
Kathleen Maduro
Harrison Ford arriving in Montreal on his private jet, tail # N6GU [November Six Gulf Uniform] for Justin Trudeau's #NatureSummit. First thing he asked for when he landed was where the Shell (jet fuel) station was. Not as bad as Leonardo DiCaprio cruising in the biggest private yacht in the world up and down the Brazilian coast during World Cup, but terrible nevertheless. To think these guys are the face of global warming alarmists! Either they really don’t believe a word they say, or they really do believe they are royalties not bound by laws they advocate for the hoi polloi. Or both.
Max Kaminsky
Reply to @Kathleen Maduro:
Gas up the jet CB, time to return to my high Carbon footprint vacation in Tofino.
James Bilodeau
Reply to @Kathleen
Maduro: So, why believe rich entertainers? They are the biggest
hypocrites. Climate change they yell as the flit between mansions world
wide in huge boats, jets, cars etc. Just like politicians. But they want
us to believe the world is melting and a tax will save it. Funny how
its just the poor getting screwed by taxes.
Peter Baxter
Reply to @Kathleen
Maduro: A lot like Justin filling sandbags!...Actually making matters
worse by getting in the way but as long as they get a chance to look
good while causing problems....they do not care at all!
David R. Amos
Reply to @Kathleen
Maduro: "Leonardo DiCaprio cruising in the biggest private yacht in the
world up and down the Brazilian coast during World Cup"
Methinks that nevertheless that was pretty "rich" N'esy Pas?
Methinks that nevertheless that was pretty "rich" N'esy Pas?
Ryan Jason
Reply to @David R. Amos: So actors attempting to use their influence to promote change is bad, but corporate CEOs doing the same thing, only they are actively participating in the problem are somehow good?
Matt Thuaii
Reply to @James Bilodeau:
I could not care less what rich entertainers think about most things. I care what I think. I think the climate is shifting dramatically, in my lifetime, and any reputable science I’ve seen on the subject backs that up. In fact, anyone can look up the images of melting Arctic sea ice taken from space, and see the shrinking coverage for themselves...
...so I also believe what my eyes tell me.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Ryan Jason:
Methinks that was a poor attempt at a trick question However its
incredibly comical that you cannot see the irony in their hypocrisy
N'esy Pas?
Brad Mercier
Reply to @Ryan Jason: Yeah it is called hypocrisy.
Reply to @Ryan Jason: Yeah it is called hypocrisy.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Matt Thuaii: "so I also believe what my eyes tell me"
Me Too
Methinks there is no denying that there is a change in the weather. However I strongly dispute the cause of it as is my right to do N'esy Pas?
Me Too
Methinks there is no denying that there is a change in the weather. However I strongly dispute the cause of it as is my right to do N'esy Pas?
Ryan Jason
Reply to @David R. Amos: "However I strongly dispute the cause of it as is my right to do N'esy Pas?" True, you could also claim that 1+1=3, as that too is your right, but it doesn't make you right... see the difference.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Ryan Jason: Do you see the difference?
https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right
https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right
Paul Howell
Justin Trudeau did not like what a volunteer was saying. The volunteer was saying that Trudeau's photo op was stopping the sand bagging from moving out by trucks. Trudeau did not like what the volunteer was saying so Trudeau and another Liberal were pushing around the volunteer, telling him to be quiet and in the end Trudeau called the volunteer names. The volunteer was there to help, Trudeau was there for photo ops.
Steven Scott
Reply to @Paul Howell:
Boy are you full of it today, nothing you said was even remotely true .....
Boy are you full of it today, nothing you said was even remotely true .....
Dwight Williams
Reply to @Paul Howell:
The poor man had one job to do, and he blew it. He was sent to make a scene in front of the cameras, but he couldn't hold back his hate and ranted on so long that he not only made himself look like a sphincter, he made it clear that this was no chance encounter.
Conservatives always overdo it. They can't help themselves.
The poor man had one job to do, and he blew it. He was sent to make a scene in front of the cameras, but he couldn't hold back his hate and ranted on so long that he not only made himself look like a sphincter, he made it clear that this was no chance encounter.
Conservatives always overdo it. They can't help themselves.
Paul
Howell
Reply to @Dwight Williams:
The first Liberal lady came up to the volunteer and started to push him back. Trudeau could have walked away and the episode would be over in a minute. But then Trudeau came up to the volunteer and started the grab the volunteer's arm . If the volunteer were to touch the first Liberal or Trudeau the volunteer would have been arrested but Trudeau can push around anyone he likes.
The first Liberal lady came up to the volunteer and started to push him back. Trudeau could have walked away and the episode would be over in a minute. But then Trudeau came up to the volunteer and started the grab the volunteer's arm . If the volunteer were to touch the first Liberal or Trudeau the volunteer would have been arrested but Trudeau can push around anyone he likes.
Peter Baxter
Reply to @Paul
Howell: And CBC reported the story with no mention of most of the
relevant facts! Who says fake news is not alive and well!
Peter Baxter
Reply to @Steven
Scott: Oh yes, it is true, at least according to other media
outlets....just hidden from the public by the CBC reports!
Elaine Hancock
Reply to @Paul
Howell: When Trudeau called the volunteer ‘unfriendly and
unneighbourly’ it showed just what a spoilt, entitled, fool Trudeau
really is.
Norm Dixon
Reply to @Steven Scott: Who is the Denier now?!!!!!
Steven
Scott
Reply to @Elaine Hancock:
Have you looked in the mirror today, you should after a rebuttal like that ......
Have you looked in the mirror today, you should after a rebuttal like that ......
Peter Baxter
Reply to @Dwight
Williams: Nice!!!! Facts are not facts. In your reality the volunteer
getting manhandled by Justin was was a conservative shill!!! Wow
Dwight....just wow!
David R. Amos
Reply to @Peter Baxter: "Wow Dwight....just wow! "
Too Too Funny Indeed
Too Too Funny Indeed
Reid Cowper
How much of Canada's 1.6% of the world's ghg emissions do we have to cut to stop the flooding?
George Bath
Reply to @Reid Cowper: any contraption that pollutes hydrocarbons is the answer reid. simple isn't it
Larry Mackenzie
Reply to @george bath:
Lake Trudeau's jet? That's a big contraption. A vacation machine.
George Bath
Reply to @Larry Mackenzie: yes larry the same one andy uses weekly to fly to flat lander country
Reid Cowper
Reply to @george bath: It's a simple question george that you won't answer.
Reply to @Reid Cowper: He can't answer! No one can .... because it is impossible to defend the myth that reducing Canadian emissions, by any amount, will have any effect on Global Warming. Cutting our emissions dramatically will not even result in a rounding error to measuring the real problem
George Bath
Reply to @Peter Baxter: go ahead peter, turn on your auto in your house and see how well your breathing is.
Reid Cowper
Reply to @Peter Baxter: There's no room for logic in this debate. That's why it's kept on an emotional level.
George Bath
Reply to @Reid Cowper: continue to obfuscate the facts about the effects of fossil fuels pollution with straw man arguments.
Peter Baxter
Reply to @george bath: Nothing like using the word obfuscate to obfuscate the real facts while insinuating the opposite
David R. Amos
Reply to @Reid Cowper: "It's a simple question george that you won't answer. "
Methinks he never will N'esy Pas?
David R. Amos
Reply to @Reid Cowper: "Still no answer. How about an educated guess?"
Methinks he must have joined the chorus of crickets I hear in the background N'esy Pas?
James Fitzgibbon
Reply to @Reid Cowper:
Well, Sparky, there are actually other nations in the world beside Canada and they, too, are tackling climate change. Why, many of them have had carbon pricing for years, including most of the richest nations on earth. Germany, for example. So we only need to worry about cleaning up our own mess, not everyone else's.
But hey, let's apply your "logic" to your street. How about I just throw my garbage on your street. I'm sure you won't mind. After all, my garbage is only a small part of the total amount of garbage.
David Lawlor
Reply to @Reid Cowper:
That's so mean using numbers in science oh yeah of little faith.
That's so mean using numbers in science oh yeah of little faith.
David R. Amos
Reply to @david lawlor: What has God got to do with this spit and chew?
David R. Amos
Reply to @James
Fitzgibbon : Methinks only desperate friend of Trudeau would call
another man "Sparky" then offer such a ridiculous argument N'esy Pas?
Paul Howell
A great picture of Justin Trudeau shoveling it again.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Paul Howell: "A great picture of Justin Trudeau shoveling it again."
Well Put Sir
Philip Nicholson
Reply to @Paul Howell: Scheer was there too ( with sand covered jeans) but surprisingly, the CBC failed to mention it *cough*
Alan Bardsley
Reply to @Paul Howell: At least he wasn't in dress shoes like Ford was for his sandbag photo op.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Alan Bardsley: Who cares?
David R. Amos
Reply to @Philip Nicholson: Who cares?
Rob Preston
Yes there is climate change. Yes there is divided reasons for it and how to deal with it. Liberals want to tax everyone for it, and the right want a real plan how to stop it. It is a political debate. And it will be a factor in October's election.
George Bath
Reply to @Rob Preston:
am I supposed to pay for your sewage, water, air and garbage? or are you responsible. those taxes do affect climate change pal.
am I supposed to pay for your sewage, water, air and garbage? or are you responsible. those taxes do affect climate change pal.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Rob Preston: "it will be a factor in October's election. "
Oh So True
Oh So True
Ryan Jason
Reply to @Rob Preston: "the right want a real plan how to stop it." And what plan would that be? I hear a lot of complaints from the "right", but one thing I have never heard, is talk about a plan on how to stop it. FYI, you can't stop it, the time for serious action was in the 90s under Kyoto, mitigation is the new normal.
Al Borthwick
Reply to @Rob Preston:
The right wants a real plan to stop it? That's news to everyone. A
carbon tax is actually the conservative plan to tackle emissions
reductions, as it allows the free market to decide while rebating the
proceeds to people. The alternative is a 'tax and spend' big-government
approach would be massive amounts of taxpayer dollars subsidizing big
business or infrastructure projects, leading to cronyism and government
waste which is the exact thing conservatives hate. Right now, the
right's "plan" is actually just to fan the flames of anger and do
nothing.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Al Borthwick: "Right now, the right's "plan" is actually just to fan the flames of anger and do nothing"
True
True
Thomas Collins
So the recent report from "scientists" that says Canada is warming rapidly only used 70 years of data on a 4.5 billion year old planet. That's like a single drop in a vast ocean. PLUS they conveniently left out the data from the hot and dry Dirty Thirties which would have mitigated their numbers substantially. PLUS they conveniently released their findings at the same time as Justin's carbon tax. This report wasn't science, it was pure politics.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Thomas Collins: "PLUS they conveniently released their findings at the same time as Justin's carbon tax. This report wasn't science, it was pure politics."
Methinks everything political is always about the money N'esy Pas?
Sammy Redfeather
When the Ottawa river flooded two years apart in 1974 and again in 1976 was that climate change?...1909?, 1928?,1947?, 1951?...all climate change?
Bob Terwilliger
Reply to @Sammy Redfeather: According to a few radical leftists, yes.
Aaron
Jones
Reply to @Sammy
Redfeather: Please understand the difference between short term
localized weather patterns and long term global climate trends.
Paul Andrew Cerniuk
Reply to @Aaron
Jones: Not sure of your intentions with your comment, so just in case
I'll point out that that kinda was what Sammy was saying.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Paul Andrew Cerniuk: I doubt he even read it because he posted the same reply in other comment threads
Chelsea Lang
We had a lot of snow this winter. Naturally the spring thaw is causing floods. It’s called season change, not climate change.
Aaron Jones
Reply to @Chelsea
Lang: Before posting about climate change ... please become familiar
with the difference between short term localized weather and long term
global climate trends.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Aaron Jones: Methinks the lady has every right to state her opinion even if it does not suit you N'esy Pas?
Aaron Jones
Reply to @David R. Amos: People have a right to an informed opinion. If one is ignorant to the fundamentals or basics of a concept they have no right to comment on it.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Aaron
Jones: Methinks some folks may enjoy a quote of a wiseguy that I often
use to answer members of peoplekind who think the know everything N'esy
Pas?
Confucius Said" To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge."
Confucius Said" To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge."
Max Kaminsky
Carbon tax = Playdough for Liberal social engineering.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Max Kaminsky: YUP
Joyce Hope Shortell
B.C. carbon tax has been in place since 2010. Yet, they have had major forest fires in the past few years. Trudeaus carbon tax will do nothing to reduce world wide ghgs in the atmosphere or stop the flooding happening each year in Canada.
George Bath
Reply to @Joyce Hope Shortell: science says you are wrong joyce go figure.
David R. Amos
Reply to @george bath: You Should Go Figure Too
Fundy Royal, New Brunswick Debate – Federal Elections 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cFOKT6TlSE
Fundy Royal, New Brunswick Debate – Federal Elections 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cFOKT6TlSE
Darin Fortin
It is 8 degrees colder in Saskatoon than it is supposed to be. Global Cooling,????
Daryl Doucette
Reply to @Shane MacDonald: 10,000 years ago Canada was covered with ice. It melted. WHY?
George Bath
Reply to @daryl doucette: lol andrews scheer did it
David R. Amos
Reply to @daryl doucette: "10,000 years ago Canada was covered with ice. It melted. WHY?"
Methinks maybe some liberals dreamed up another tax and everything heated up bigtime N'esy Pas?
Darin Fortin
We will soon have a responsible leader in Ottawa. Mr. Scheer will clean up the Libby mess.
Aaron
Jones
Reply to @Darin
Fortin: The last time a conservative promised to have a plan before the
election ... he never actually came up with a plan. Ford promised to
have a costed platform ... yet didn't ... and look at the mess he has
created in Ontario. Do you really want the same federally?
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Aaron
Jones: Speaking of Conservatives Methinks Elizabeth May used to work for
the brown bag man Brian Mulroney and still sings his praises as she
talks of Agenda 21 to this very day N'esy Pas?
Philip Nicholson
Reply to @Aaron Jones: What mess has he created? All I hear are the typical unionists complaining the free stuff has come to an end.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Darin
Fortin: Methinks maybe the Green Party may be of some help to the
Conservatives cleaning up the Libby mess. Nobody should deny that the
lawyer Elizabeth May used to work for a brown bagging lawyer of the old
school and she still sings Brian Mulroney's praises and supports Agenda
21 to this very day N'esy Pas?
Darin Fortin
George Bath,. Calm down George.
Larry
Mackenzie
Reply to @Darin Fortin:
Very angry he is.
Very angry he is.
Bob Toso
Reply to @Larry
Mackenzie: Why are you trying to portray George as angry? Is that
merely your attempt to make him seem . what?
So far he is much more believable than you and Darin who are merely using personal attacks
So far he is much more believable than you and Darin who are merely using personal attacks
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Bob Toso: "Why are you trying to portray George as angry?"
Methinks you should read the other comment threads N'esy Pas?
Reply to @Bob Toso: "Why are you trying to portray George as angry?"
Methinks you should read the other comment threads N'esy Pas?
Peter Baxter
Reply to @Bob Toso: I think you are experiencing George's post differently than everyone else....but based on your posts....it seems you may experience many things differently than most people
David R. Amos
Reply to @Peter Baxter: Did you notice that my reply to the fella went "Poof"???
Gordon Raymond
Canada's environment was literally largely shaped by Beavers stopping and diverting water. When we add roads, raise population by millions, build cities filled with concrete, rid of wetlands and grasslands for farmland, cut down forests...the water has to go somewhere. Flooding is an issue, but mostly around large bodies of existing waterways. We can't affect climate, but we can plan better, build on higher ground, help the ground absorb the water naturally. No tax will ever stop weather from changing or stop flooding. We need to build smarter.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Gordon Raymond: Very Well Said Sir
Gerard Groenewegen
The problem that I have with massive expenditures to fight climate change is that our efforts will be statistically irrelevant to global climate. In other words, my money will be foolishly wasted. It is better to mitigate the impact of climate than to try to reverse the trend. Yesterday I spent $1.90 per litre on gas in North Vancouver. My natural gas and electricity bills have a climate change tax component. I am doing enough already. If my money is to be spent foolishly I prefer to do it myself as that would be much more fun.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Gerard Groenewegen: I Wholeheartedly Agree Sir
John Reed
I'm conservative and I believe in climate change....and I also think the cabon tax is just another tax that will take money out of my pocket. Does that blow Liberals minds?
David R. Amos
Reply to @John Reed: "Does that blow Liberals minds?"
Apparently so
Elaine Hancock
A picture of our PM being ‘friendly and neighbourly’ for 15 minutes!
Julia LeBeau
Reply to @Elaine Hancock:
Did he ride his bike or walk to the scene?
Did he ride his bike or walk to the scene?
Elaine Hancock
Reply to @Julia LeBeau: If he could, he would hop the taxpayer’s jet. He really likes that jet.
Paul Howell
Reply to @Julia LeBeau:
Trudeau likely arrived with his typical 5 full size SUV motorcade that was left running for his entire time there. All the roads blocked off and all traffic stopped.
Trudeau likely arrived with his typical 5 full size SUV motorcade that was left running for his entire time there. All the roads blocked off and all traffic stopped.
Philip Nicholson
Reply to @Elaine Hancock: Scheer was there too but the CBC failed to mention it.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Paul Howell: Of that I have no doubt
David R. Amos
Reply to @Philip Nicholson: I see Harper 2.0's photo published in this article
Mark (Junkman) George
Nice "spin" this morning Aaron Wherry.
So now we are politicizing the hardship some folks have had/ are having for pure political gain? This is a really new low for the CBC.
LOOK! Folks make dumb choices, they buy houses in forests, and on flood plains. Lots of those folks are unwilling to take the blame for their poor choices, and why not get them blaming a political party, gives you mileage, and lets them feel good.
SHAME.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Mark (Junkman) George: Methinks spinning is his job N'esy Pas?
George Bath
calm down darin and larry
accept the reality that your leadership is flawed.
Larry Mackenzie
Reply to @george bath:
I'm okay George, I'm not running around with my hair on fire, replying to every single post, getting angry and bent.
I'm okay George, I'm not running around with my hair on fire, replying to every single post, getting angry and bent.
Bob Toso
Reply to @Larry Mackenzie: It seems you start out already bent
George Bath
Reply to @Larry
Mackenzie: yes are replying to every single post and adding your own
"opinion to systematically misinform Canadians.
Bob Toso
Reply to @Larry Mackenzie: You aren't adding anything to the discussion - just using personal attacks.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Bob Toso: I will add something to the discussion
Try Googling "Fundy Royal Debate" watch the video and listen to my point of view then come back and argue me if you wish to.
Pat Fisher
Con environmental policies are thin gruel, like Andy's academic, work and life experiences.
Darin Fortin
Reply to @pat fisher: like a drama teacher
Dav Fenn
Reply to @Darin Fortin:
He did teach school for 18 months. That counts for something...
He did teach school for 18 months. That counts for something...
Mark (Junkman) George
Reply to @pat fisher:
Hey Pat! Most of the flooding here (in NB) is due to 2 things. The provincial government simply refuses to control water flow in the spring AND if you let an unnamed company cut down all the trees on hillsides and valleys again you have an uncontrolled water situation.
Neither the Liberals, or CONServatives, are prepared to rectify either of those situations, so making this a "political event" really serves no purpose.
Of interest to note: NB was absolutely full of railways at one time, gone now, their legacy remains as walking trails. Generally, if you build/buy higher than those old railway roadbeds you should remain flood free.
Hey Pat! Most of the flooding here (in NB) is due to 2 things. The provincial government simply refuses to control water flow in the spring AND if you let an unnamed company cut down all the trees on hillsides and valleys again you have an uncontrolled water situation.
Neither the Liberals, or CONServatives, are prepared to rectify either of those situations, so making this a "political event" really serves no purpose.
Of interest to note: NB was absolutely full of railways at one time, gone now, their legacy remains as walking trails. Generally, if you build/buy higher than those old railway roadbeds you should remain flood free.
Pat Fisher
Reply to @Mark (Junkman) George: Good post Mark. I agree.
David R. Amos
Reply to @pat fisher: "Good post Mark. I agree."
Me Too
Me Too
Peter Baxter
Reply to @pat fisher: As opposed to the Drama teacher who created a make believe story that taxing Canadians more is certainly the answer! Only a professional story teller could convince people that reducing 1% of a problem by some small percentage means anything other than a pork barrel for Justin
George Bath
so much denial about the effects of hydrocarbon emissions in urban cities.
Larry Mackenzie
Reply to @george bath:
Seems to make you angry.
Seems to make you angry.
George Bath
Reply to @Larry Mackenzie: anger from reading your posts?
lol, larry
help Canada and Canadians not just yourself.
lol, larry
help Canada and Canadians not just yourself.
Darin Fortin
Reply to @george bath: stop driving an automobile George.
Larry Mackenzie
Reply to @Darin Fortin:
Start paying some taxes George, be a positive rather than a negative
Start paying some taxes George, be a positive rather than a negative
George Bath
Reply to @Darin Fortin: I dont own a vehicle hun.
George Bath
Reply to @Larry Mackenzie: I pay taxes every day larry do you pay taxes larry?
George Bath
Reply to @Larry Mackenzie: do you want an apology, I'll get my local MP to send it to you. weak conservatives
Larry Mackenzie
Reply to @george bath:
My experience in life has been that people like you to not apologize.
My experience in life has been that people like you to not apologize.
George Bath
Reply to @Larry Mackenzie: your quite a reactionary angry man.
David R. Amos
Reply to @george bath: "your quite a reactionary angry man"
Methinks folks who live in glass houses should not chuck rocks N'esy Pas?
Methinks folks who live in glass houses should not chuck rocks N'esy Pas?
Reply to @george bath: Such denial that 1% contributors have the power to make any difference
Climate change is on the move — but the political debate is standing still
Voters' support for climate action still splits along left-right lines
Before spring began, Canadian political
leaders were already debating how to respond to the profound challenge
of climate change. Now, they're doing it while neighbourhoods in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick are under water.
In theory, those rising waters ought to bring a new sense of urgency to the debate. But this spring's floods still seem unlikely to wash away the stark partisan differences that have emerged over climate policy in this country.
The flooding does at least put climate change front and centre. An abstract threat has been made tangible. A problem for the future is suddenly immediate and apparent.
And beyond the expressions of concern for the people directly affected, the conversation has quickly moved to necessary and important questions about adapting to climate change. Is this the new normal? And if it is, what should be done about the homes and infrastructure built in areas that could now be subjected to annual flooding?
It wouldn't be surprising if news coverage of the flooding leads to a spike in public concern about climate change. Last fall, researchers at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication suggested that higher levels of concern about global warming in some parts of the U.S. were associated with direct experience: those living in states where the effects of climate change are more apparent (coastal storms, wildfires, flooding) tend to take it more seriously.
But other research has found a "weak and quickly dissipating relationship between Americans' experiences of extreme weather and their concern about climate change."
This is hardly the first time Canadians have been faced with the direct impacts of a changing climate. Recall the devastating Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016, or the flooding in Ontario and Quebec in 2017, or the record wildfires in British Columbia in 2018. None of those events produced an overwhelming or lasting consensus in Canada about the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the future impacts of climate change.
But those events might have been seen as rare, one-off calamities. A recurring series of increasingly devastating events eventually could push public opinion to a tipping point, both in terms of concern about climate change and public support for actions to meaningfully reduce carbon emissions.
Standing in the way of overwhelming agreement is a partisan divide — with Liberal, NDP and Green supporters on one side, Conservatives on the other.
Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau shovels sand to fill sandbags with his son
Xavier, as son Hadrien watches, in the Ottawa community of Constance Bay
as flooding continues to affect the region on Saturday, April 27, 2019. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Overall, 70 per cent of respondents to a recent Abacus Data survey said that climate change would be among their "top five" concerns when they vote in the federal election this fall.
But that national figure hides a significant split. Among those who support Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, 81 per cent consider it a top five issue. Eighty-six per cent of NDP supporters and 84 per cent of Green supporters agree. But only 46 per cent of Conservative voters consider climate change a top-five concern.
That roughly lines up with an earlier finding from Abacus on Canadians' belief in global warming. Seventy-four per cent of Liberal and NDP supporters said there is "conclusive" evidence that the planet is getting warmer. Just 49 per cent of Conservative supporters agreed.
A left/right split on climate change is not unique to Canada and it's less pronounced here than in the United States. But it's also higher here than in several other countries. In its own polling, Pew found a 22-point gap between "liberal" Canadians and "conservative" Canadians on the question of whether climate change was a major threat to their country (80 per cent versus 55 per cent). In France, that gap was just eight points (86 per cent to 78 per cent).
Conservative
leader Andrew Scheer speaks to supporters before a door-knocking event
for volunteers in the Kanata suburb of Ottawa on Thursday, April 25,
2019. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
All
of which aligns with how climate change has been debated in the
political arena over the past decade. Successive Liberal and NDP leaders
have proposed pricing carbon to reduce emissions.
Conservative leaders, many of whom once supported the idea of pricing carbon, have loudly condemned the Liberal and NDP proposals without quite explaining what they would do instead.
A brief glimmer of all-party agreement on the goal of reducing emissions emerged in 2017 when MPs voted 277 to 1 in support of the Paris accord on climate change. But the debate has since retrenched and is now more clearly than ever about different levels of commitment.
Andrew Scheer has refused to promise that a Conservative climate plan would align with Canada's international commitment to reduce emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. His new provincial allies — Doug Ford in Ontario, Blaine Higgs in New Brunswick and Jason Kenney in Alberta — have all scaled back climate policies and goals in their respective provinces.
What could have been a debate about how to achieve Canada's climate targets seems instead to be turning into a debate about if the federal government should try.
As the Conservatives are now quick to point out, the Liberal government's current policies don't add up yet to the projected reductions necessary to meet Canada's target. That could undercut Liberal attacks on Scheer. It's also an opening for the NDP to criticize the Liberals for not going far enough.
But the basic question of concern still breaks along partisan lines.
If this month's flooding (and whatever else climate change has in store for us over the spring and summer) has a political impact, it might be to persuade the Conservatives to aim for something closer to Canada's Paris target. It might also motivate the Liberals to add to their agenda and fill in the gap between current projections and Canada's international target.
But the frame of this debate seems to be frozen in place. The planet might have to get even hotter before that changes.
In theory, those rising waters ought to bring a new sense of urgency to the debate. But this spring's floods still seem unlikely to wash away the stark partisan differences that have emerged over climate policy in this country.
The flooding does at least put climate change front and centre. An abstract threat has been made tangible. A problem for the future is suddenly immediate and apparent.
And beyond the expressions of concern for the people directly affected, the conversation has quickly moved to necessary and important questions about adapting to climate change. Is this the new normal? And if it is, what should be done about the homes and infrastructure built in areas that could now be subjected to annual flooding?
It wouldn't be surprising if news coverage of the flooding leads to a spike in public concern about climate change. Last fall, researchers at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication suggested that higher levels of concern about global warming in some parts of the U.S. were associated with direct experience: those living in states where the effects of climate change are more apparent (coastal storms, wildfires, flooding) tend to take it more seriously.
But other research has found a "weak and quickly dissipating relationship between Americans' experiences of extreme weather and their concern about climate change."
Experience may be a poor teacher
This is hardly the first time Canadians have been faced with the direct impacts of a changing climate. Recall the devastating Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016, or the flooding in Ontario and Quebec in 2017, or the record wildfires in British Columbia in 2018. None of those events produced an overwhelming or lasting consensus in Canada about the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the future impacts of climate change.
But those events might have been seen as rare, one-off calamities. A recurring series of increasingly devastating events eventually could push public opinion to a tipping point, both in terms of concern about climate change and public support for actions to meaningfully reduce carbon emissions.
Standing in the way of overwhelming agreement is a partisan divide — with Liberal, NDP and Green supporters on one side, Conservatives on the other.
But that national figure hides a significant split. Among those who support Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, 81 per cent consider it a top five issue. Eighty-six per cent of NDP supporters and 84 per cent of Green supporters agree. But only 46 per cent of Conservative voters consider climate change a top-five concern.
That roughly lines up with an earlier finding from Abacus on Canadians' belief in global warming. Seventy-four per cent of Liberal and NDP supporters said there is "conclusive" evidence that the planet is getting warmer. Just 49 per cent of Conservative supporters agreed.
A left/right split on climate change is not unique to Canada and it's less pronounced here than in the United States. But it's also higher here than in several other countries. In its own polling, Pew found a 22-point gap between "liberal" Canadians and "conservative" Canadians on the question of whether climate change was a major threat to their country (80 per cent versus 55 per cent). In France, that gap was just eight points (86 per cent to 78 per cent).
Conservative leaders, many of whom once supported the idea of pricing carbon, have loudly condemned the Liberal and NDP proposals without quite explaining what they would do instead.
A brief glimmer of all-party agreement on the goal of reducing emissions emerged in 2017 when MPs voted 277 to 1 in support of the Paris accord on climate change. But the debate has since retrenched and is now more clearly than ever about different levels of commitment.
The debate over doing less
Andrew Scheer has refused to promise that a Conservative climate plan would align with Canada's international commitment to reduce emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. His new provincial allies — Doug Ford in Ontario, Blaine Higgs in New Brunswick and Jason Kenney in Alberta — have all scaled back climate policies and goals in their respective provinces.
What could have been a debate about how to achieve Canada's climate targets seems instead to be turning into a debate about if the federal government should try.
As the Conservatives are now quick to point out, the Liberal government's current policies don't add up yet to the projected reductions necessary to meet Canada's target. That could undercut Liberal attacks on Scheer. It's also an opening for the NDP to criticize the Liberals for not going far enough.
But the basic question of concern still breaks along partisan lines.
If this month's flooding (and whatever else climate change has in store for us over the spring and summer) has a political impact, it might be to persuade the Conservatives to aim for something closer to Canada's Paris target. It might also motivate the Liberals to add to their agenda and fill in the gap between current projections and Canada's international target.
But the frame of this debate seems to be frozen in place. The planet might have to get even hotter before that changes.
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