Friday, February 23, 2007

Mini Kyoto!

I wonder how parts of Ontario are liking their little "mini Kyoto". Just think, one oil refinery in Ontario shuts down, and stations are out of gas, the price of gas is rising across Ontario, and the rest of Canada, but enviromentalists are saying, implementing Kyoto isn't going to cost us anything?

Dion is yelling about making "megabucks" by meeting our Kyoto targets? Layton is saying it's only going to cost $1.50 a barrel, and forgetting to tell people that they will pay that $1.50 at the pumps.

One closed oil refinery causes most of Ontario real problems, think of closing 33% of the oil refineries.

This article is dead on.

The zealots, and ill-informed media, have found a new "lede" to get public attention for their cause. They would have us believe it's all about capitalism and fat cats and Big Oil. But it's not.
And here are the questions I would like pollsters to ask anyone who answers that they believe that protecting the environment should be a political priority.
- Would they support a ban on cars? Cars are the real enemy of the planet.
- Or a ban on incandescent bulbs? California is considering banning them because they use four times more energy than fluorescents.
- Would they support a limit of 250 square feet or less per person in terms of residential space? Would they support a high tax on those who exceed that amount? Small residences are axiomatic to reducing energy use.
- Would they move to live within walking distance of their work or school? Would they commit to using public transport only?
- Would they move to a residence with small windows that faces toward the sun for most of the day?
- Would they give up their job if necessary? Or eating meat? Or air conditioning? Or synthetic fabrics? Or have only one child or, better yet, none?
The point of this is that the polls are incomplete, which is leading, in the case of Canada, to potentially ruinous political action and attitudes.
There's also a lot of misinformation about the Kyoto Protocol itself and Canada's responsibilities.

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