For the past few days - since the revelation of the "Green Shift", Conservatives have been busy trying to discredit the plan. They are trying to say the supposed costs of the plan are not worth the effort by Canadians. The "costs" - as small as they are, are FAR outweighed by the true benefits.
These conservative clowns argue about the small percentage of an effect this will have on the world. I'm not as concerned about the whole world, as I am about the immediate effects here... Driving into Edmonton from the East, I'd rather not go through the pall of smoke from the refineries. If local companies are forced to clean up, I MAY not have to drive through that crap in January. It's the local effects that are critical to us. Sure there are global effects, but at least we would be doing our part.
What most conservatives just don't get - or probably care about, based on their recent foreign policy repeated fiascos - is that no matter how small a part of the world we are, anyone who has traveled the planet knows just how revered a position Canada holds. This reverence for Canada worldwide has a lot to do with our almost neutral, peace-loving image - tempered by our invention of the UN Peacekeeping Force. The world has looked up to us for years - particularly the developing world... Countries like India, and areas in Southeast Asia. Even China had a very respectable relationship with us through the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The power THAT relationship holds is immense. The power we had to convince nations to see things our way. This will be critical in convincing populous nations like India and China that they need to clean up their pollution machines.
Canada can be a leader - by becoming a center for green expertise. Oh yeah - by the way - there's money in that, my conservative friends. We've already sold many useful green technologies to other countries. New Delhi India has completely converted it's bus fleets to compressed natural gas. It has made a HUGE difference in air quality and acid rain conditions. Guess where the tech came from??? British Columbia Canada. A company that participated in the China and India "Team Canada" trade missions (with Jean Cretien) was successful in landing the contract.
We need to act to BE the beacon we have been in the past. Unfortunately, under the current government, we are more of a "court jester" to Bush's regime down South.
No comments:
Post a Comment