New vision needed on climate Published on Fri Nov 28 2014 Re: Keystone a lightning rod for Harper, U.S., Nov. 20 Re: Pipeline drama playing out in Harpers favour, Nov. 17 Keystone a lightning rod for Harper, U.S., Nov. 20 Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, commenting on the future of the oil industry in Canada, said: “These are massive capital investments that have been built on a 50-year time horizon.” The latest projections from the UN and respected scientific research worldwide all agree that unless we are able to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by 70 per cent before 2050, we are facing global catastrophe. Prentice (ably abetted by the Harper government) has defined the root of the problem facing us all. The pipeline debates are almost irrelevant unless a genuine political will, founded on a clear vision for our collective future, can emerge to break this downward spiral into social and economic disaster. Essentially, what Prentice is saying is that there is too much investment (read “profit”) involved for any new direction to be taken. At least until 2065. Sadly, a blinkered global economic system, founded almost entirely on destructive greed, is incapable of even seeking (much less finding) solutions for our collective future. By reinvesting “massive capital” into research for the development of new and existing sustainable energy sources, this problem could be solved in less than 20 years. Thank you to Jim Prentice for revealing the bottom line. Roger Clark, Ottawa The Keystone XL pipeline, like all pipelines, does matter. They matter because the International Energy Agency (IEA) tells us they do. According to the IEA, any new infrastructure in support of the high-carbon economy will “lock” us into using fossil fuels when we need to be weaning ourselves off of them. It’s encouraging to see Ontario and Quebec working together on a low-carbon power exchange, as reported by Martin Regg Cohn. Decisions regarding energy infrastructure matter a great deal as they set an irreversible course: climate chaos or stabilization? Cheryl McNamara, Toronto Pipeline drama playing out in Harpers favour, Nov. 17 Gazing into my crystal ball, I can predict the future for Canada’s western oil resources. First, the Harper bobbleheads in Ottawa will approve the construction of the pipeline in lockstep with the U.S. Republicans and the export of Alberta bitumen. The refineries in Texas will negotiate a “fair” contract to take the oil product. Once built, those same refineries will come back to the table with a “do or die” proposition to cut the cost to them of the product, citing that the U.S., being self-sufficient in oil and gas due to the success of the shale oil and gas exploitation, can no longer pay the agreed upon price. We will have no choice but to cave in. Net result? Screwed again. Chalk up another legacy for the Harpies. W.R. (‘Bil’) Thuma, Toronto ________________________________________ This article was downloaded by calibre fromthestar/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2014/11/28/new_vision_needed_on_climate.html
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 23:54:25 +0000
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