Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 12/08/2011 5:01:11 AM PST by Clive
Today, let’s address some of the absurd attacks launched against Canada by opposition politicians, environmentalists and foreign diplomats during the ongoing United Nations climate change conference in Durban, South Africa.
(1) By threatening to walk away from the Kyoto Protocol, Canada is violating its international treaty obligations.
Utter nonsense. Article 27 of the Protocol states any member country can withdraw by giving one year’s advance notice.
If Canada decides to withdraw from Kyoto by using Article 27, which it hasn’t done to date, it will no more be in “violation” of the treaty than a tenant who gives legal notice to his landlord he intends to vacate the premises, would be in “violation” of his lease.
(2) China’s announcement in Durban that it’s willing to accept mandated cuts of its future carbon dioxide emissions “blows Canada’s cover” for refusing to renew its commitment to Kyoto.
Once again, complete nonsense. Canada’s position is we will not agree to any post-Kyoto treaty unless the developing world — more than 150 countries — accepts emission reduction targets, not just China, which is now the world’s largest emitter.
Further, the Chinese government’s so-called commitment to emission reduction targets is loaded with so many qualifiers that, absent specific dates and hard targets, it isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Plus, even if China did agree to such reductions, they won’t actually start until after 2020.
(3) Canada is “isolated” in Durban in its argument the developing world must accept hard emission reduction targets in any post-Kyoto treaty.
In reality, the United States (which has never ratified Kyoto going back to the Bill Clinton/Al Gore era), Japan and Russia share Canada’s position.
Even the European Union, the main driver of the Kyoto Protocol, concedes for it to be effective going forward, China and the developing world must accept future emission reduction targets.
(4) Canada’s only purpose in Durban is to sabotage the talks.
First, Canada has every right to be in Durban as a member of the Protocol to look out for its own interests, as does every other nation.
Second, there is nothing to stop the other 193 nations in attendance from drafting a new treaty that would cover 98% of global carbon dioxide emissions (minus Canada’s 2%).
Third, Canada has brought $1.2 billion of Canadian taxpayers’ money to the table in Durban for the fast-track financing of clean technology projects and adaptation strategies in the developing world.
Fourth, Environment Minister Peter Kent has re-affirmed Canada’s willingness to contribute to a $100-billion-a-year Green Climate Fund as part of a global emissions reduction deal that includes the developing world.
Finally, there’s the reality that even if member nations agree to some sort of statement of principles in Durban, when it comes to actually lowering emissions, the devil is in the details.
Indeed, the problem with the current emission reduction system spawned by Kyoto, which includes everything from a cap-and-trade market in Europe to the United Nations’ so-called Clean Development Mechanism for generating carbon credits, is that it is riddled with fraud and corruption, which undercuts whatever effectiveness it might otherwise have.
Far from being attacked in Durban by all the usual suspects, Canada deserves praise for being one of the few nations on Earth willing to talk about these issues honestly.
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Canada doesn’t understand—yet—that the rest of the world thinks they’re Americans.
...And hates them for it.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Canada, Russia, Japan and the US are all northern nations that need a lot of energy to heat their homes and move goods and people around. Durban and the like is just an attempt to throttle the economies of these nations.
If Canada disappeared tomorrow there would be no measurable change in climate, "global warming", or CO2 et. al.
By the time the Montreal Protocols were held, Canada's output had increased, while the non-ratifying US's had decreased.
I'm unconvinced on the inability of this planet to recycle carbon quickly. I don't buy the unproven carbon output theory from what the evidence at hand, let alone what *they* claim is evidence.
and today’s International Whipping Boy is.....Canada??
Strange times indeed.
Why would they want to waste the taxpayer's money on this global warming hoax?
I was watching some news coverage of the Durban meeting the other day. One of the ladies that was speaking was barely coherent. I had no idea what she was talking about. Another person was some crazy guy with Greenpeace. COP17 is a joke.
He also knows how to turn the handle the way it goes.
Canada's real problem is and will be the United States and its trendy leftist President. Whatever the US does on "climate change" will necessarily have to be done by Canada or Canada will necessarily have to take measures to soften the impact. Getting out ahead of the US in implementing the economy destructive measures demanded by the greenies or alternatively lagging behind the US will both have adverse consequences for Canada.
So, to give a whole new meaning to an old schoolboy saying: "play up, play up, and play the game".
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