Right in the centre - Assessing change

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Published on Thursday, December 10, 2015

By Ken Waddell

The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

From the outset, I have always said the climate is changing. What I take issue with is the claimed causes of the change and the perceived ability of government to control that change. We should focus on doing what we can, but what little we can do about the change should be balanced by adapting to the change.

The Winnipeg Free Press has reported that “Manitoba has joined a cap-and-trade alliance to combat climate change, which the premier expects will speed up development of the province’s own strategy.” The FP goes on to say, “….environmentalists say a simple and more broad carbon tax would have been much easier to put in place.

“Cap and trade is problematic because it’s hard for people to understand it,” said Curt Hull, project manager of Climate Change Connection. “There’s (also) a chance of not getting the outcome you want.”

Hull said cap-and-trade is so complex to administer that it can also result in higher overhead costs than a simple levy.” Keeping things simple and easy to understand isn’t a government trait in general and it’s definitely not an NDP trait.

This cap and trade move will be a dream world for the NDP, the accountants, the unionized public service groups, an absolute dream. They will suck up millions of hours and billions of dollars measuring vapour, assuming the worst in corporations and chasing myths so they can pretend to protect the environment and save the world. They will claim to limit Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, slow the earth’s warming and thereby save us all from ourselves.

The provincial government  is nuts, certifiably nuts.

Canada, under our newly minted prime minister, Justin Trudeau, sent over 360 people to Paris carry on this charade. We sent more people than any other country in the world except host country, France. Canada emits less than two per cent of the world’s GHGs but we sent more people than any other visiting country.

The federal government  is nuts, certifiably nuts.

Meanwhile,the Cornwall Alliance, which is a non-profit religious, charitable, and educational organization said, “….the push to restrain real economic progress will extend poverty around the world.” They claim, “many people continue to live in abject poverty. One-quarter to one-third of the world’s population —1.75 billion to 2.33 billion people—lack access to electricity, and all but three million of those live outside rich, developed countries. Worse yet, some 2.7 billion still cook their food on inefficient stoves that use dung, crop residues, and wood. It is estimated that two to four million people die prematurely each year because of health problems associated with biomass-burning stoves.”

Manitoba’s major emitters are often very visible. Koch Chemical has big smokestacks. The mining processors have big smoke stacks. Oddly enough, one of the biggest emitters is the City of Winnipeg run environmental failure known as the Brady Landfill which only gives off seagulls and a pervasive stink.

What the politicians and climate change gurus won’t face is that even the GHG emissions from smoky China can be overwhelmed in a few days by what spews out of a good sized volcano. The governments can tax and spend and regulate and wring their hands all they want but they have no control over volcanos.

The irony of all this is that Premier Selinger spent a lot of time in Paris telling anyone who would listen that the global warming would extend the shipping season for the Port of Churchill. If the world’s temperature rises theoretically, the Hudson’s Bay ice will stay away longer in the fall and recede earlier in the spring so more ships can get into Churchill.

Adapting to positive change is a good thing.