After all that Paris, that most baffling city, has gone
through in the last year, now it is hosting the latest climate change
conference. They say that this could be
the most important climate change conference yet. They say that this could be
the last chance to get some sort of agreement that will change the direction
that the climate is heading. I do hope
that they succeed.
I believe in climate change, and I believe that most of it
is caused by humans from burning fossil fuels and other factors such as using
rivers and oceans as a huge heat sink.
Both my instincts and my knowledge as an engineer convince me of these
facts.
National leaders, Prime Ministers and Presidents, have made
their visit to Paris. Now the hard part
of negotiations between Environment Ministers and their experts has begun. They have until later next week to reach the
illusive agreement. If they are
successful, the leaders will return to receive the well-earned plaudits that
their leadership deserves.
There are the skeptics, of course. Skeptics of the science of climate
change. Skeptics of the likelihood of
success at the current conference.
Skeptics of national acceptance of any agreement. And skeptics of reaching any of the goals
agreed to at the conference.
We have more than enough skeptics right here in Canada. Andrew Coyne, in his article for the National
Post and Ottawa Citizen, questioned the need for Canada to do anything since we
only produce 1.6% of global emissions. But curtailing climate change is going
to require a lot of 1.6%s. Other skeptics hold on the fact that global
temperatures have not risen significantly since the 1990s. But that is only true on a world wide scale. In
sub-Sahara Africa, millions of hectares for arable land are giving way to the
encroaching desert. In Canada, the temperatures have increased since the 1990s,
and that is only going to make things like arctic ice melting more severe. And as the polar ice cap recedes inevitably
the ocean temperatures will increase. And so as ocean temperatures rise so the
severity and number of storms will increase.
You see, the oceans are the primary makers of weather. Canada has a stake in all this.
And so I am hopeful that agreements can be reached, and also
hopeful that nations will ratify those agreements. But I become skeptical about whether the
agreements can be kept. It’s not that
don’t think that ordinary people will try and do their part. They will try to make their houses more
efficient. They will try to buy more
efficient cars. Perhaps some will get
rid of their big power boats and go sailing.
How about a Poker Run for sail boats?
People will try and follow the leadership and ideas given to them by
their governments, provided they make sense and are understandable. It is not the common people that give me
pause.
In many countries, there are very rich vested interests that
make money over our dependence on fossil fuels.
In the US, there are the Koch brothers who try to sway national politics
to their liking. In Russia, there are the oil oligarchs who reap the benefits
of Russia’s supplies or natural gas and oil, and are the prime supporters of
Vladimir Putin. Canada has its own oil
and gas interests who want to see the Alberta oil sands exploited to the end.
Throw in Middle Eastern kings and sheiks and you have a lot of powerful people
who would like to see us use even more oil and gas, or at least maintain the
status quo. Any change could hurt their
profits and damage their stock value.
These people live for today. They
have to make the most of the current situation, satisfy their stockholders but
don’t want to think about the future.
These are the people who, with their wealth and resulting power, are the
ones who can stop any climate change initiatives cold, unless, of course, they
see profit for themselves.
I hope that I am wrong, but I remain skeptical.
“Behind every great
fortune there is a crime.”
- Honoré de Balzac
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