Canadian federal budget a step forward on climate change
Ottawa, Canada, March 29, 2012: “The International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) congratulates the Government of Canada for removing from the federal Budget the misleading language of previous Budgets concerning clean air and climate change,” said Tom Harris, executive director ICSC which is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. “In past years, this serious science mistake, appearing repeatedly in such an important document, contributed to public confusion about the distinctly different approaches needed to address these two issues. This mistake has now been corrected and therefore a more productive debate about environmental protection will be possible moving forward.”
“We also express our support for the elimination of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE),” stated Dr. Tim Ball, ICSC science advisor and former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg. “The NRTEE’s biased approach to the climate issue, looking at the impacts on Canada of warming, but ignoring the far more dangerous, and more probable, cooling, contributed to a distortion of the discussion about how best to prepare for future climate change.”
“While we are unable to assess specific climate-related Budget details until the Estimates are released in May, it is encouraging to see essentially no references to the mistaken concept that humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions have a substantial influence on global climate,” said Harris. “This is different to past Budgets where climate change was highlighted as a major factor driving a number of federal initiatives. We encourage the government to now also change the emphasis of their Clean Air Fund and clean energy generation projects to focus solely on the important topic of air quality. Adaptation to climate change is also important, but it is unrelated to clean air so must be treated separately.”
The ICSC is a non-partisan group of scientists, economists and energy and policy experts who are working to promote better understanding of climate science and related policy worldwide. We aim to help create an environment in which a more rational, open discussion about climate issues emerges, thereby moving the debate away from implementation of costly and ineffectual “climate control” measures. Instead, ICSC encourages effective planning for, and adaptation to, inevitable natural climate variability, and continuing scientific research into the causes and impacts of climate change.
ICSC also focuses on publicizing the repercussions of misguided plans to “solve the climate crisis”. This includes, but is not limited to, “carbon” sequestration as well as the dangerous impacts of attempts to replace conventional energy supplies with wind turbines, solar power, most biofuels and other ineffective and expensive energy sources.
For more information about this announcement or ICSC in general, visit http://www.climatescienceinternational.org
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Jim Cripwell says: March 30, 2012 at 6:08 am
[The fact of the matter is that no Canadian politician, so far as I am aware, has come out and stated publicly that CAGW is wrong.]
Do these type of statements qualify as taking a position on CAGW?
“Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations.”
“Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant.”
“Carbon dioxide which is a naturally occurring gas vital to the life cycles of this planet”
“This may be a lot of fun for a few scientific and environmental elites in Ottawa, but ordinary Canadians from coast to coast will not put up with what this will do to their economy and lifestyle”
“We can debate whether or not… CO₂ does or does not contribute to global warming. I think the jury is out.”
“My party’s position on the Kyoto Protocol is clear and has been for a long time. We will oppose ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and its targets. We will work with the provinces and others to discourage the implementation of those targets. And we will rescind the targets when we have the opportunity to do so”
“As economic policy, the Kyoto Accord is a disaster. As environmental policy it is a fraud”
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada.
You have to admire the Canadians, such nuggets os wisdom in an insane world.
Tenuk says:
March 30, 2012 at 1:01 am
I wonder what the queen of Canada will have to say about this?
I do not know the queen’s thoughts on this, but her husband has strong negative views on wind farms. See
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-philip/8901985/Wind-farms-are-useless-says-Prince-Philip.html
“He said they were absolutely useless, completely reliant on subsidies and an absolute disgrace,” said Mr Wilmar. “I was surprised by his very frank views.”
Mr Wilmar said his attempts to argue that onshore wind farms were one of the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy received a fierce response from the Duke.”
I surely hope this wisdom flows south. Dr Tim Ball – You the Man!
Jim Cripwell says:
March 30, 2012 at 6:08 am
“I think we must be careful not to overestimate what the Canadian government thinks about CAGW. I believe that the majority of Canadians think it is real, and feel out government should have implemented the Kyoto Accord. The analogy of the elephant and the mouse between the USA and Canada is very valid. Had the USA implemented Kyoto, Canada would have followed. We just know we cannot afford to commit economic suicide unless our neighbour to the south does the same thing.”
Jim get the facts. We DID sign the Kyoto agreement (the liberals did). Harper (conservative) was one of the first to refuse to sign an extension of it that was proposed in Durban S.Afr. I’m apalled that the “scientific debate” would be along party lines. E=mc^2 seemed to not cause such alignments (Oh didn’t the USSR ban Einstein’s publications?)
Yes. Large human watermelons are always trying to help wildlife. In 1912 a large shipment of elk was delivered to Wallowa County to re-build the nearly absent population there. Thankfully, they also placed a bounty on wolf pellets after they had not only decimated the elk population, but were eating up cattle. In 2012 there is an all-out effort to build wolf pack numbers. Favorite food? Elk and cattle.
It goes on. A few decades ago, free sheep and goat grazing on BLM land was outlawed, as they were deemed too destructive on grass and woody plants. Now they pay farmers to graze on BLM land to control grass and woody plants, especially invasive ones, and to keep the forest floor reasonably cleaned of fire fuel. Wasn’t the herder’s fault after all. My bad.
Decades ago, loggers were blamed for the decreasing spotted owl population and were disallowed from logging old growth. Today, there is a plan afoot to kill barred owls. They apparently are bullies and must be terminated so that the spotted owl can thrive. You loggers apparently, were not to blame. My bad.
Decades ago, Wallowa County irrigation ditches and canals were open all year round and fishable. We used to flip salmon, steelhead, and trout out of the field ditches with a shovel. In the 60’s and 70’s fish populations started to decline. Then someone decided that fish don’t belong in fields so they made us gate and fish screen all the ditches and control when we can use the ditches. The criss-crossed ditches and canals dried up and of course the fish were barred from favorite spawning grounds. The fish continued to decline in numbers, even though every effort was made to keep the water corralled in the fast running two branches of the single river that courses through the Wallowa Valley. With all controls still in place, last year we had a record return of salmon into the far reaches of the head waters. Why? Ocean conditions. Oops, we did it again. Wasn’t the farmer’s fault after all. My bad.
Yes. By all means, let’s try to manage wildlife. We have such a good record.
Andrew30 quotes our Prime Minister as follows
“We can debate whether or not… CO₂ does or does not contribute to global warming. I think the jury is out.”
When a Canadian politician makes the statement that adding CO2 to the atmosphere from current levels has no discernable effect on climate, then I think we will be starting on the right path. There are, I believe, a small minority of Canadians who believe,.as I do, that adding CO2 has a negligible effect. Previously I expressed my ideas very badly in talking about Canadians who believe CO2 causes CAGW. It is not yet a vote getter for politicians to take the point of view that CO2 has a negiligible effect. Hopefully one day some courageous politician will make the statement. We can only hope.
Pamela Gray says:
March 30, 2012 at 8:56 am
“Yes. Large human watermelons are always trying to help wildlife. In 1912 a large shipment of elk was delivered to Wallowa County to re-build the nearly absent population there. Thankfully, they also placed a bounty on wolf pellets after they had not only decimated the elk population, but were eating up cattle. In 2012 there is an all-out effort to build wolf pack numbers. Favorite food? Elk and cattle.”
Elk to N.Z. ate the trees that weren’t evolved with browsing in mind. Rabbits to Australia and N.Z. A plan to bring in mountain lions to eat the elk and rabbits in a land with 50 million juicy sheep was fortunately quashed.
Hurray, now let’s rest more of the environment and its funding back from the lunatic acolytes of AGW!
” DaveG says: March 29, 2012 at 7:52 pm
– The Conservatives have warts, blemishes and screw ups.
– the economy is in reasonably good shape and the world is looking at our economic model with envy! ”
All governments are susceptible to corruption and they are no different. The fact that they were a minority for what 6-7 years helped keep them honest. Now that they have a majority we’ll see how long they can stay honest.
Now if only they would follow Canada’s banking model. A central bank (Bank of Canada) but all profits from it go to the finance minister not private owners. Eliminates a lot of conflicts of interest.
And that’s the take-away from all this. It IS possible to inject fiscal sanity into a modern Western country’s budget – and it works.
I recently traveled to India, I took an interesting topic. I saw a small stall in the street, which was next to a hut. Stall and the hut apparently belonged to one guy. I saw a solar panel with a lamp too. The light was relatively weak. I asked him whether it is the electricity. “… Smile … It is enough…. to indicate his consent.” , Said the tradesman. I was surprised that how do they provide the small panels. I told myself from wherever their transistor radios…
As I was passing, I saw the height and half height Solar panels, the situation was similar.
In another neighborhood, I saw plenty of electric aerial wires, no power cord was not clear which one is mine!
There are people living in the world whose monthly income is about $ 2, less than the price of a one liter of gasoline in EU.
If you and I are talking about solar energy, and we know it as a very expensive energy, we should know that there are places in the world with no access to any facilities, and the people consider this power as God-given energy.
Canada is not selfish, Canada and the Canadian would like to let the people live with their own habits and their own cultures and their own possibilities.
So try to make more efficient panels, there are people living in the other side of this world who are waiting for your help.
If your demand is in the same amount of electricity, why not take your time, use better panels.
Jeff Hagar says:
March 29, 2012 at 8:56 pm
After listening to Sun Media, Ezra Levant. Tides Canada should be investigated for infringing into national security and issues within Canada’s sovereignty as a country. There’s a fair bit of interference from outside of our country being exerted into Canadian policy which comes through donations and support from foreign questionable sources.
________________________________________
That goes for ALL countries. It was the main reason for UN directed NGOs. It is a method for furthering “Global Governance” via environmental activism and interfering with National Sovereignty.
Maure Strong’s early work with YMCA international “…may have been the genesis of Strong’s realization that NGOs (non-government organizations) provide an excellent way to use NGOs to couple the money from philanthropists and business with the objectives of government.”
Original quote ~ Hofstra University law professor Peter Spiro http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_tavistock04b.htm
Here is an old example I dug out from a text file dated June 2010
It is supposedly driven by 25×25 America’s Energy Future This Web site states:
Actually it was United Nations Astroturf
The above was a direct quote found at the following websites.
http://www.25×25.org/
http://www.unfoundation.org/features/25×25.asp
http://www.un.org/documents/gACa/conf166/ngo/950307140407.htm
However they figured out that was a big OOPS so now of course we get “404 Page Not Found for those links. The updated message is:
A really great example of how history has been rewritten to support the illusion all this is “Grass roots” driven and not Astroturf.
Everyone wants clean air and water. Linking that with “global warming” was done on purpose to further an agenda. Re-introducing some sanity and delinking these two disimilar items is a good thing.
Allan MacRae says:
March 30, 2012 at 1:00 am
Acorn1 – San Diego says: March 29, 2012 at 11:08 pm…
Good stuff Acorn. There are real environmental issues, but they are being drowned out by global warming hysteria.
As I wrote years ago to the head of the Sierra Club of Canada: “After you so-called environmentalists have totally destroyed your credibility with your hysterical false alarmism, who will be left to speak for the environment?”
_______________________________________
Agreed. The farmers I have corresponded with are furious that “Sustainability” has been stolen and smeared just like environment has and science has.
Anything politics touches it pollutes.
Walter Jeffries summed it up quite nicely.
To para-quote Willis, “Where are the bodies?” The extinctions occur within models based on little island ecosystems extrapolated to continents. But real documented extinctions always fall short of the total of discovered species plus rediscovered ones being removed from the grave.
So we’re doing no such thing.
ACCKKK warning. There is another incompetent thread-jack attempt by the garbled-grammar bolloxed-logic one. Scroll-by costs you nothing, believe me.
As a Canadian, I am deeply thankful for moderate mercies. Much further to go, but the Trend is promising.
The prospect of Suzuki and Tides foundations being charged with Charity Fraud is delightful, of course!
Pamela Gray says:
March 30, 2012 at 8:56 am
Yes. Large human watermelons are always trying to help wildlife. In 1912 a large shipment of elk was delivered to Wallowa County to re-build the nearly absent population there. Thankfully, they also placed a bounty on wolf pellets after they had not only decimated the elk population, but were eating up cattle. In 2012 there is an all-out effort to build wolf pack numbers. Favorite food? Elk and cattle….
_____________________________________
Yes and no one mentions the tuberculosis and brucellosis spreading to the USA from the Canadian Elk and deer herds….
Some where in my collection of data I have the links….
Best decision I ever made was in the 1980s to emigrate from UK to Canada. I’m so glad I don’t have to suffer the UK governments absolutely crazy devotion to green policies and belief that 0.04% of the atmosphere causes global warming. Our conservative majority federal government here is taking very sensible decisions on energy pollution and climate matters. I only wish people in Ontario would realize that the provincial Liberal government is driving Ontario into oblivion with it’s insane green energy policies, and they kick them out as soon as possible.
Ah Canada. I am considering moving there from the US, but afraid – even at my advanced age – that the oncoming ice age might force everyone to move south !
Gary Pearse says:
March 30, 2012 at 9:10 am
….Elk to N.Z. ate the trees that weren’t evolved with browsing in mind. Rabbits to Australia and N.Z. A plan to bring in mountain lions to eat the elk and rabbits in a land with 50 million juicy sheep was fortunately quashed.
____________________________
Unfortunately that idiocy was not quashed here in the USA. In my neck of the woods (North Carolina) they have turned loose, coyote, red wolf and though they try to cover it up, near-black melanistic Jaguar/ Panther. A couple of good old boys caught a release truck up in the mountains and people I know including my husband have sighted “Large Black Mountain Lions.” Release of melanistic Jaguars makes it easy for the official stance to be “Your seeing things” To quote “It is most likely that folks are seeing a black bear or a bobcat…. Sorry a bear and a bobcat just does not have the long low slung tail, prominent shoulder blades and low head carriage of a panther/jaguar and that is what my husband caught in his bright lights. Also a bobcat does not stretch across most of the road. Bobcats are only about twice the size of a full grown domestic house cat.
Florida Panther: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw176
Arizona Jaguar: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Return_of_the_Jaguar.html?c=y&page=2
Red Wolves in North Carolina: http://www.fws.gov/nc-es/mammal/redwolf.html
And what do we have??? The Rewilding Institudes Carnivore Conservation Program… http://www.rewilding.org/carnivoreconservation.html
Allan MacRae, yes I am aware of the “official” structure of our government, however in practical real terms the Queen does not actually have input on us. The vast majority of Canadians know nothing about “our Queen” and couldn’t care much less about her than they do.
In reality, Prime Minister Harper has to walk a thin line between left and right, for the simple fact that Canada has been steered so far left over the last few decades that even the obvious fact that the CPC has been doing a great job the last few years won’t sway them. If he was to come right out and state the obvious, as PM, the media would have a field day with their manufactured scandals, AND the chances of re-election would be shot down the drain.
Personally I’m extremely impressed with the man. The revolution has been quiet and calm, even the raving leftists I know (yes, we all know some) are not actively angered by the Harper government. They grudgingly admit “he could be worse”. Now that they see he’s not banning abortion, criminalizing gay marriage, and whatever other scare stories the left’s media hounds were pushing, it becomes business as usual and the CPC quietly dismantles much of the damage done by Trudeau, Chretien, and our own version of Prince Charles: Paul Martin.
Speaking of Freddy Mercury (GRHS), it makes little sense in today’s world to have a flamboyant “leader”. Presidents and Prime Ministers are elected to do a job, to manage and steer policy, not to be colorful showmen, not to “front the band”, not to cry when their ridiculously young wife runs off with the Rolling Stones. Not to become the international poster-boy for idiocy (Chretien), or the psychological definition of entitlement and inbreeding (Martin). Just… do the job.
(PS… for non-Canadians: Prime Minister Harper is a Calgarian… his rise to power was via the Reform Party, which was formed in response to Western Alienation and the actual sentiment in Alberta that separating from Canada might be a good thing, even though officially everyone pretended otherwise.)
Brian H says:
March 30, 2012 at 11:08 am
____________________________
I like to laugh a little together with you.
A canoe! race next Sunday … agree?
Your boat is too small.
I have a solution for you.
Why are you so upset when I’m quiet? You write short stories, among other subjects, believe me Brian, how can I find you. Everyone who writes less makes fewer mistakes. I did not see any where you write something! Just some short questions; be sure you’re still my best friend here. Don’t worry at all. If I made you upset, then sorry about it. Friendship is always preferred. Elders intent on conquest, but I’m wondering what you’re looking for. Here is a small society.
It would be a pity, if anyone to be disturbed at any reason. I know ٌWillis, Gail Comb, California, Smokey, Sparks, Garrett, Pet, Terry, Aspect, Jacobson, Rockwood, many more and YOU! More virtuous and pious people, all well respected, all excellent jobs. You’re among the first people I met. You were not too bad! Brian!! Just kidding.
So I see, you’re still young and possibly you like to challenge to gain more experience. I don’t know. If I’m wrong then please accept my apology. But I recommend you do not plan on it, you will not get anything in the future, nothing. Just be a scientist if so you don’t lose anything. I want to bring a present for you my good friend in return from my trip just to tell you how your friendship is important for me, this is the least that I should do. What do you like? I’m with my friends, very simple and not complicated at all. Relax.
Ohh!, I forgot it, could you please give me my this time score for writing. The important matter is that I dare to write, I never stop writing I don’t scare. I like to make mistakes very much. But believe me now I tried to be better. Think about living Brian not dying. Thank you.
Please accept my warm regards.
Buon giorno e Cordiali saluti
Another classic diversion, like “pulling out of Kyoto”: Behind the scenes the climate game is ongoing: Dec 2011 – Environment Canada – Minister Kent Announces International Climate Funding: http://tinyurl.com/7r2pgnc
“Canada’s contribution is for three years. An initial contribution of $400 million is already starting to produce results and today, the Government is announcing further investments of almost $600 million for 2011-2012 and 2012-2013.”
“As part of our commitment to provide our fair share of fast-start financing, Canada is contributing $1.2 billion in new and additional climate change financing for the fiscal years 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/2013. This is Canada’s largest ever contribution to support international efforts to address climate change. It is focused on three priority areas – adaptation, clean energy, and forests and agriculture.”