Copenhagen blog: Stop tarring our image
- December 10, 2009 10:20 AM |
- By Your Voice
Submitted by Alex Doukas
Imagine that we're into the final days of the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, little progress has been made, and the official representatives from Tuvalu (a small island state under threat from global warming) lead a walkout to protest the negotiating process.
It's certainly believable, and not even unheard of at past negotiations.
Now imagine that the walkout happens on just the third day of negotiations, it's highly disruptive, and that it's just the tip of the iceberg. That's the kind of energy and escalation we're seeing in Copenhagen — the kind of rising tide of frustration around climate injustice that has people pre-emptively comparing Copenhagen to the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle a decade ago.
This year's negotiations are a totally different story from last year's sleepy start at the climate talks in Poland.
We've seen several groups each day stage loud and sometimes disruptive actions on the inside related to fairness, indigenous rights and the protection of small island states under threat.
One of today's bigger actions saw Canadian youth partner with the Indigenous Environmental Network to ask the Canadian government to stop tarring our international image. We called on our leaders to stop protecting bottom-of-the-barrel oil from the tar sands at the expense of a fair, ambitious and legally binding climate treaty in Copenhagen.
The excitement and anxiety was palpable, as it's been since even before we got arrived. Everything here is emotionally charged for the Canadian Youth Delegation. I think it's because we all know just how high the stakes are, and we all know just how little time we have to turn Canada around on climate change.
Canada's role has been obstructive from day one — we've won a "fossil of the day" award from international civil society every day so far, with Canada coming away with first place on Wednesday.
I just wish we were better represented here. I've already got two black eyes from hitting my head on Saturday (See first blog entry); I don't need another one from our government's inaction.
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Comments (14)
If the U.K. thinks we should be expelled from the commonwealth over the tar sands they should look at themselves. Thay have one of the dirtiest power systems in the world because they still use the dirtiest fuel around nuclear and coal. So until they clean up their own shit don't complain about Canada.
They would be a third world country if it was'nt for Canada and other commenwealth countries. If this attitude continues we should just drop them and have nothing to do with them and see how long it takes for them to change their tune when the lights go dim.
What a lot of hypocrites in Copenhagen! They fly in on lots of planes using huge quantities of jet fuel. So many that they could not all park in Copenhagen's airport. They had to be flown to Sweden to await the return of the hundreds of delegates who use this as a fun trip for the most part.
They drive around in limousines apparently over 1200 and they ran out and had to order more from Sweden and Germany. At these conferences no more is accomplished than if they had all stayed home and communicated by email, phone or even twitter!!
Practice what you preach! Don't tell the ordinary people to conserve and then live the high life.
I really have very little faith that the West will allow Copenhagen to work. There are too many people who still think the world is flat here in the West and nobody wants to believe their lifestyle is at fault.
Selfishness here is what the problem is. Our inward looking culture refuses to see other perspectives. Everyone here wants India and China to change but are not willing themselves to do ANYTHING so much as lift a finger or walk or transit.
Its easy to tell other nations to stop polluting while driving around Cadillac Escalade and eating expensive high carbon footprint dinners (for the last 50 years). And you wonder why the Developing nations dont like what is happening in Copenhagen, Its easy to see through our hypocrisy.
I wonder if those kids know that there is no tar in the oilsands?
Its never a nice place to be when other nations or people challenge the country we live in, but when it comes to the oil sands and our climate change policies we should be angry and ashamed.
Granted, there is little the average Canadian can do about it other than educate themselves, but the politicians and government officials that can actually do the right thing need to look themselves in the mirror and do the right thing.
Harper cannot agree to binding GHG targets because it will stop oil sands development - and for what? We are getting no money for this 'oil', only 1% royalties, compare that to Norway's 90% or even Newfoundland's 36.5%.
Fort McMurray has a 30% poverty rate with a flood of illegal immigrants, the tailings ponds can be seen from space, and now the final nail in the coffin, our reputation as Canadians has dragged through the mud. Many thanks Mr. Klein.
Someone want to explain how implementing the proposed Copenhagen treaty will reduce pollution?
Chinese industry pollutes far more per unit of production than industry in Canada.
The Chinese have insisted they will not be bound to reduce pollution by the Copenhagen treaty.
Therefore costs to Canadian industry will increase but costs won't increase for Chinese industry.
That means more production will move to the much cheaper and dirtier factories in China which will mean more overall pollution, not less.
We'll be shutting down clean auto plants here and importing our cars from China.
Same with steel and most other products.
Why is it the greens insist we buy our tomatoes locally to reduce transportation pollution but insist we ship our raw materials to China and the finished products back here which will dramatically increase pollution?
Is one source of pollution bad and another source of pollution good?
Seems this Copenhagen treaty will increase pollution by transferring production to the dirtier industry in China and will also increase pollution from the increased transportation.
The only way this treaty could be dumber is if it was bigger.
I have to say that for the first time in my life I'm ashamed to be Canadian. When I heard the statistic yesterday that since Canada has increased it's pollution by 20 percent since they signed Kyoto!!!! I love my country but it's about time Canadians woke up and smelt the Timmy's before it's too late!
If green house gasses represented half the Destruction and Polution from Tar Sand development, they might be called Oil Sand.
Listen to the generation that has to live with the end products.
I think the CBC has a responsibility to report the position of the Majority of Canadians who had at one time been excited about recycling and doing our parts. Even the protest in Copenhagen is being simplified in the media.
Many of us see the possibility that the Copenhagen Summit will actually accelerate the output of C02 emissions. There are zero waste targets, micro-credit organizations, and mobilization drills on the west coast of North America because of the threat of Tsunami, all of that is ignored in the Mania that is Copenhagen.
There should be 500 000 000 million point of light in North America and industry has been adapting to the environment since there was industry. Copenhagen is not the answer, intact we may see our resources plundered more quickly if we make too many consesions in Copenhagen.
Please report on the silent majority in Canada!!!!
Any of you actually read the proposed treaty draft?
It would increase pollution, not reduce it.
You guys should be rallying AGAINST the treaty, and if you'd read it or thought about it you would realize that.
@Matt what a joke. Technically there isn't "tar" in the TARSANDS(it was renamed to "oilsands" by the oil industry through serious PR work once it was time to ramp up production) it still sure resembles tar. \
They're quite similar in appearance, and the word tar is commonly used to describe bitumen around the world. Quit splitting hairs like an idiot. If you got smeared with a load of bitumen from the TARSANDS and feathered I'm sure you wouldn't know the difference.
Seriously weak attempt at trying to discredit the efforts of people who actually are trying to do something.
I'm embarassed that Canada is so pack full of enviro-cult-ninnies who can't see that agw is just a big hoax made by the global elite$ for the long term goal of world global socialist governance .
I predicted five years ago that the agw hoax would collapse like a cheap tent , and it is a pleasure to watch as exactly that is happening at a rapid pace .
Jump off you lefties for your boat is a sinkin!
@Phil Marr - It's laughable that your comment includes the sentence "big hoax made by the global elite for the long term goal of world global socialist governance" and you're calling people who believe in science ninnies.
If you think science and the laws of nature are in on the hoax you may be right....
People like you who draw conclusions with no actual knowledge make me want to puke.
Daniel Salvage posted that there is a 30% poverty rate and a flood of illegal immigrants in Fort McMurray. What a load of nonsense. It has the highest average income levels in Canada, the higest house prices, and has almost zero low cost housing. Working poor would be living on the street, and I assure you there is not 21,000 homeless in Fort McMurray.
This is typical for the mostly uninformed commenters (and Copenhagen attendees) regarding climate change and the oil industry. The have opinions about issues they know nothing about, have no solutions, and make statements that are absurdly false.