Once again, Canada under Prime Minister Stephen Harper (whose father was an oil company executive) is shown up as an international laggard in acting on climate change. The President of the European Union, José Manuel Barroso is now calling Harper on his government’s inaction on this crucial issue:
Canada shouldn’t keep waiting for the rest of the world to act on climate change before making its own changes, the president of the European Union Commission said Wednesday as he prepared to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Brussels.
“We should not lose momentum regarding climate change negotiations,” José Manuel Barroso told Canadian reporters during an hour-long briefing.
“With Canada, I’m not going to give lessons to one of our partners. What we want is for everybody to move.
“What we don’t want to see, frankly speaking, is that someone does not move because the others don’t move.”
Barroso said the matter is pressing enough to require immediate political action, despite the economic toll that might result from measures to reduce carbon emissions, which a large body of research has linked to global warming…
“In Europe, we believe, according to science, that there is a real threat to our survival as a civilization. And for the future of our planet and the quality of life of our children … I think we have to move.”
Click here to read the full story on CBC.ca.
However, the good news is that the three opposition parties – NDP, Liberal, and Bloc Quebecois – are working together to pass Bruce Hyer’s private member’s bill, Bill C311 “The Climate Accountability Act”. Despite the Conservative’s attempts to derail the bill, it is going for its third and final vote in the House of Commons this afternoon. To encourage the three parties to continue to support the bill today, click here. Once it has passed in the House, it will also have an uphill battle in the Senate. But that’s a battle for another day!
This picture sums up Harper’s approach to climate change:
yeah, and I read this in the Globe yesterday http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/theres-hope-for-global-political-accord-on-climate-prentice-says/article1556894/
comparing what is in the Globe (which has been going downhill since they fired Greenspon) with the CBC story you point at might offer another clue about why Harper is taking shots at the CBC 🙂
keeping in mind that while the EU is relatively ahead of k-k-Canada on the issue, they are still far behind what is needed according to the science that I understand
I read Eaarth last week and am now re-reading it, dark, very hard going (for me at least)
ai ai ai
You’re right – the G & M completely glossed over the Barroso’s climate change comments, tacking a note on at the end of the article! CBC has redeemed itself a bit on this one – I haven’t been very happy with their coverage of this issue for the most part, lately.
And “Eaarth” is on my reading list, too, although I have to admit I’m saving it for a day when I’m feeling a bit braver…
Cheers.