Harper Owes Us A Plan

From Simon Donner, of UBC:

For about a decade, the explanation for a lack of coherent Canadian climate policy was the lack of a coherent American climate policy. How could our federal government move forward with actions like regulations, carbon pricing, renewable portfolio standards, international agreements or adaptation plans without our largest trading partner and BFF?  

[...]

Now the U.S has a plan. No, it is not perfect, but it is far more advanced that any plan proposed by any sitting President or Prime Minister.

The ball is in our court. Time for Canada, time for Canadians, to define "as appropriate".

Indeed.  We are waiting, Mr. Prime Minister.

Canada Leading The Way On Climate Change!

When it comes to making the seas rise, our glaciers are kicking ass!

The new research found that all glacial regions lost mass from 2003 to 2009, with the biggest ice losses occurring in Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes and the Himalayas. The glaciers outside of the Greenland and Antarctic sheets lost an average of roughly 260 billion metric tons of ice annually during the study period, causing the oceans to rise 0.03 inches, or about 0.7 millimeters per year.

Nice to know this country is doing something.

Canada: Toronto Plus!

My contribution to the Natty Post's quest for a new Canadian motto. Send yours to canadianmotto@nationalpost.com. Remember, all submissions must be six words or less.

I Am Not Alone

From the TO Star on Canadian attitudes towards evolution:

The Canadian Press-Decima Research survey suggests that 60 per cent of Canadians believe God had either a direct or indirect role in creating mankind, shattering the myth that Canadians had long ago put their faith strictly behind the scientific explanation for creation.

The poll suggests Canadians divide in essentially three groups on the issue of creation: 34 per cent of those polled said humans developed over millions of years under a process guided by God; 26 per cent said God created humans alone within the last 10,000 years or so; and 29 per cent said they believe evolution occurred with no help from God.

Interesting less for the information on the number of pure-bread nutters among us (26%), then for the fact that, if you interpret the 29% who believe "evolution occurred with no help from God" as being Atheists, then this is about twice the number usually given by Stats Canada (16.2%).

So in Canada we The Godless outnumber young Earth Creationists. I for one am comforted.

PS. I recommend reading the whole article for its detailed breakdowns. As has been generally noted in the past, B.C. is a relative hot-bed of atheism with 31% saying that God played no role in evolution. Somewhat more surprising, given earlier research on the topic (at least my understanding of it), are the Quebec numbers:

Regionally, Quebec respondents were by far the most likely to say God’s role in creation was a delusion, with 40 per cent saying the evolutionary process had no interference from an intelligent designer.

The actual survey is still not up on the Decima site. If I remember, I will post a link when it appears.

I Feel Like A Pirate

From CTV:

In a move to curb what the Hollywood studios are claiming is a primary source of the illegal pirating and bootlegging of their movies on the Internet, Warner Brothers announced Monday it is cancelling all preview screenings of its summer blockbusters in Canada.

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm going to wander down Spadina Avenue with my stop-watch and see how long it takes before the bootleg copies show up. Usually, they arrive about two hours before the real movie hits the big screen. With these new measures in place, I imagine the time will be more like 1 hr 47 min.

And, oh yeah, that guy that takes your DVD order at the local bar, and shows up next day with your copies? He'll probably be miffed. Might take him an extra day, and he might charge you $1 more.

Not A Bad Compromise

...considering our guys are effectively stuck there until 2009 anyway:

Split between hawks and doves, Stéphane Dion's opposition party has hammered out its long-promised common-ground position that includes signalling to allies that Canada will give up the leadership of the Kandahar-based NATO mission at the end of its current tour, two years from now.

An agreement is an agreement, even if its a bad one, and to leave beforehand would be, as Mr. Dion has said, dishonorable.

Also, it seems that, as Mr. Bush sees Iraq go down the crapper and desperately casts about for some kind of positive legacy, he is recommitting to the Afghanistan mission. I doubt that 3,000 extra bodies will have any lasting effect, but at least it doesn't look so much like America is fobbing off this particular disaster on its NATO allies, Canada included, and heading for the hills.

And, finally, this story merits watching.

For Sale: Jack Layton's Soul, Price $30,000,000

According to this morning's Star, the "pact" between Jack Layton's NDP and Stephen Harper's Tories has been sealed with $30,000,000 in pork spending for NDP Environment Critic Nathan Cullen's riding in Skeena-Bulkley Valley:

Before consenting to anything, sources in B.C. and Ottawa said, Layton told Baird he wanted to see a sign of good faith showing the Conservatives were actually committed to the environment, and not just trying to save their minority government from defeat.

"That absolutely happened," said one source. "It was one of many, many components that helped get them over the top on this."

Then, last week, the environment minister arrived in Vancouver to announce a $30-million contribution to an investment and incentive fund to help conserve the Spirit Bear Rainforest. It was matched with $30 million from the British Columbia government for economic development and $60 million in private funds.

"A number of political stars aligned," the source said.

Not that it's a bad cause, but it has absolutely nothing to do with carbon emissions and frankly gives the impression that the NDP will trade on that issue for goo-gaws in other areas. Also, is it a co-incidence that the "goodwill gesture" just happens to be a wad of federal money to the riding of a powerful Dipper? I find that hard to believe.

A bad smell is starting to linger over Jack and his deal making.

Climate Change Upside: A Longer Growing Season. Climate Change Downside: Russians, Lots And Lots Of Russians

In his TO Sun column today, Lorrie Goldstein announces blithely that, as a result of Global Warming, Canada is:

...likely to benefit from a longer growing season, something politicians don't dare even mention in the current climate of political hype.

Which may or may not be true. After all, it doesn't matter how long your growing season is if its all one big drought.

On the other hand, as the arctic ice melts, circumpolar nations are rushing to make territorial claims in hopes of cashing in on whatever oil/mineral wealth the area might one day yield:

In 2001, Russia made the first move, staking out virtually half the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole. But after challenges by other nations, including the United States, Russia sought to bolster its claim by sending a research ship north to gather more geographical data. On Aug. 29, it reached the pole without the help of an icebreaker - the first ship ever to do so.

And the mounties are getting ready for an influx of marine traffic:

Looking to the future [...] "Canada's north could become warmer and more hospitable to marine traffic, posing new security challenges" and that "climate refugees [are] a potential issue".

So we'll be farming bananas up on Baffin Island with one hand, but we'll be fighting off Russkies with the other. Pity Harper's promise to build a fleet of armed arctic ice-breakers seems to have gone out the window. The armed part might still be necessary, even if the ice-breaking part isn't.

Do It For The Starlets

...if you don't like children, or don't like your children in particular.

I wouldn't normally pay much attention to a celebrity sponsored "Let's All Fight Climate Change!" site, but Global Cool has links to a nifty list of concrete actions individuals can take to cut energy use, including buying compact fluorescents, turning the temperature down a degree, washing in cold water, and so forth. Most are pretty common-sensical, and good ideas even if you aren't worried about climate change. For example, its always a bad idea to fly, because your plane could lose a wing and you could end up screaming for a good five minutes while it tumbles out of the sky and into an alligator infested Florida swamp! And if you wash in cold water, then use a rack for drying purposes, your pants won't shrink and you can put some moisture back into your household's dry winter air. There's even a few suggestions I hadn't heard of before, like stacking the food in your freezer properly.

The site has also managed to attract some fairly decent musical talent, like the relatively hot Karen O (pictured above) of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and a couple of schlubby looking dudes that claim to be from Broken Social Scene (but look more like roadies).

Meanwhile, California may move to ban conventional light bulbs by 2012 and replace them with compact florescents. Good on them if they do. Since the bulbs contain mercury, it will be interesting to see how the disposal issues are handled.

Meanwhile, Gary Lunn may be telling Parliament that Tar Sands production won't swamp his government's green initiatives, but he's telling the Chinese something else entirely. As this Globe Story points out:

The promise of production from Alberta's oil sands appears to grow exponentially the farther Conservative cabinet ministers get from Ottawa.

And by the time they reach China, all caution is lost.

For the H.O.C. production ramps up to no more than 3.1 million barrels a day within the next 10 years; for the Chinese it gets to 4.6 million.