Jim Prentice

In today’s Calgary Herald Jim Prentice said he is bringing “absolutely top-drawer, remarkable Canadians” to Copenhagen with him. The list includes the remarkable TV handyman Mike Holmes. WTF is he doing there and why is he remarkable? I have no idea. Is Holmes there to fix the mess that Canada finds itself in?

Also included in Prentice’s top-drawer is Jacques Lamarre, a former executive at SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. SNC makes war supplies that are used to kill people. Perhaps Lamarre is giving advice, probably expensive advice on the taxpayer’s tab, on how to kill climate change negotiations with a corporate spin pretending they are doing everything they can to help the planet.

Predictably there were no environmental experts included in Prentice’s top-drawer. I would say the top-drawer is really the bottom-drawer of Canadians. None are afraid to stoop too low to achieve power and make a bundle of money.

Dave Bronconnier

The same puff piece Calgary Herald article noted that, “Meanwhile, Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier will bring a bright-side-of-the-oilsands pitch to Copenhagen next week, because although it has little to do with the mayors' climate summit he is attending, he expects the questions will come about Calgary-headquartered petroleum firms' environmental footprint.”

“But he encouraged others who are involved in larger negotiations to counter the oilsands' international image as an environmental pariah -- and Canada's fastest-growing industrial emitter of greenhouse gases -- with good-news explanations of carbon capture, water stewardship and other green advances.”

Bronco is there (on the taxpayer’s tab?) to also paint the tarsands green. You gotta love that cowboy optimism in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Looking on the bright side, it looks like our political leaders are paid spokespeople of the fossil fuel industry.

Rob Renner

This morning’s Calgary Herald editorial section had an article titled “Target on Alberta Unfair”. It went on to say, “It's no joke, Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner is taking an environmentally friendly approach to the climate change talks in Copenhagen.”

 “Our approach of necessity is changing,” Renner told the Herald editorial board, ahead of departing for Denmark later next week.  “The approach is not to be highly defensive. The approach is to say (the oilsands) is a very large industrial project. There are impacts on the environment, there are impacts on the environment with any large industrial project. They're not nearly as bad as you have been led to believe. Here are the facts!”

The facts are that the tar sands are the largest emitter of greenhouse gases on earth. What Renner, Prentice, Bronconnier, with help from the corporate owned Calgary Herald are saying is that the facts don’t matter, all they have to do is create doubt with a heavy dose of greenwash. Then the fossil fuel industry can keep on polluting. It actually is a joke.

Danielle Smith

In an online live chat yesterday, Danielle Smith, leader of the Wildrose Alliance, was asked whether she believes in man-made climate change. She responded by saying that, “I'm not a scientist.  I am a politician. I am struck by the fact that politicians are talking more like scientists and scientists are talking more like politicians in this debate. Some scientists say that manmade emissions of greenhouse gases are causing global warming and the effects will be catastrophic (1), some say the effects will be moderate (2), some say they will be mild (3), some say it will be beneficial (4). Some say there is nothing we can do about it so we should adapt (5). Some say the cost of trying to do something is too high and we would be better off dealing with pressing environmental issues (6). Some say it is natural, and being caused by solar flaring (7). Some say we have actually entered a period of global cooling that began in 1998 (8). It is quite clear to me the science on this issue  is not settled. Until it is, I'm keeping an open mind.”

Looks pretty closed to me.

Though there were no Ralph Klein comments to the fact that global warming was caused by dinosaur farts, on the whole Alberta showed its ignorant face to the world.