Head in the sands
North Shore News
Published: Wednesday, July 08, 2009
THE Liberal Party of Canada will help destroy the world.
That's the message delivered to Albertans this week by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. Presumably he is hoping it will be enough to get him elected.
Speaking to party supporters at a Calgary Stampede breakfast, Ignatieff said he and his colleagues understand that "the beating heart of the future of our country is in Alberta," meaning the province and its oil sands are in essence the bee's knees. He also suggested he will not resurrect Stéphane Dion's proposed carbon tax -- while putting forward no clear alternative.
To those digging their fortunes out of the province's tar sands, this is no doubt welcome news, but to the remainder of the world, it should be quite the opposite.
The oil industry in Alberta is among the country's greatest greenhouse gas emitters. The extraction process belches startling volumes of CO2 into the atmosphere and its product, a fossil fuel, is burnt to produce more. Ignatieff has shown he plans to do exactly nothing about it.
With climate change threatening everything from polar bears to agriculture to the world's coral reefs, the attitude espoused by the would-be prime minister is an invitation to catastrophe.
If Michael Ignatieff wants to show true leadership, he should table a clear plan for extracting our country from its filthy addiction, rather than promises to keep the pumps flowing.
© North Shore News 2009
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