Our Prime Minster Was Made Unhappy By Those Nasty Europeans

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/732862--u-s-green-scheme-beats-canada-s

Harper, a diplomatic source said, was "unhappy" that the UN Secretary General, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen were invited to the Commonwealth's annual heads of government meeting and allowed to turn it into a staging ground to build momentum for Copenhagen, which runs from Dec. 7 to 18. Canada was essentially blindsided on the weekend by a joint French-British proposal to establish a $10 billion climate-change fund to help developing countries.

Perhaps Canada would not be "blindsided" if we had actually taken any steps to lower our greenhouse gas emissions.( Portland, Oregon, among many other cities, have demonstrated that it is possible to lower emissions  substantially.)  And now, I predict, Mr. Harper will be unhappy with an analysis of his proposed cuts to Canada's greenhouse gas emissions:

Expert analysis shows the U.S. plan will go much further in cutting emissions when additional measures are factored in like tougher fuel efficiency rules for cars, renewable electricity standards and investments in "green" development in poor countries, known in climate change parlance as clean development mechanism projects.

So - Canada still isn't committing to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.  What will it take? Expulsion from the Commonwealth?   Help convince Mr. Harper that cutting greenhouse gas emissions is a good idea - please send him a letter instructing him to do so - not just talk about it!

It Is The Worst of Times: It Is the Best of Times

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/arctic-sea-ice-has-nearly-vanished-expert-fears/article1381174/

One of Canada's top northern researchers says the permanent Arctic sea ice that is home to the world's polar bears and usually survives the summer has all but disappeared. Experts around the world believed the ice was recovering because satellite images showed it expanding.  But David Barber says the thick, multiyear frozen sheets crucial to the northern ecosystem have been replaced by thin “rotten” ice which can't support the weight of the bears. “It caught us all by surprise because we were expecting there to be multiyear sea ice – the whole world thought it was multiyear sea ice,” said Dr. Barber, who just returned from an expedition to the Beaufort Sea.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/indias-shift-to-cut-back-emissions-raises-hope-for-climate-agreement/article1381167/

Word that India will soon roll out emission reduction targets signals an emerging consensus toward a climate-change agreement next month at Copenhagen, despite the Canadian government's much-noticed ambivalence.  India, one of the last holdouts in the fight against global warming, will announce the move within the next few days, French President Nicolas Sarkozy revealed yesterday.  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon placed added pressure on Canada yesterday, chiding Ottawa for its inaction on climate change at a Commonwealth meeting of heads of government, in which climate issues are dominating the agenda.

The push for action in Trinidad reinforces recent progress toward a climate-change agreement ahead of the summit in Copenhagen.

The permanent sea ice is gone - faster than the IPCC models predicted -but, perhaps, the world is finally taking this issue seriously.   Now, if we can get Canadian politicians to commit to action on climate change.....I live in Hope.

Feel Free To Copy The Letter I Sent To the PM

November 26, 2009
Right Hon. Stephen Harper
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister:

Human caused global warming is an enormous crisis for humanity. It is also a highly significant issue of global environmental justice: 80 % of greenhouse gas emissions are released by just seventeen countries – one of which is Canada. People are dying of starvation in the Horn of Africa and drowning in Bangladesh due to the changes caused by global warming. Canada has done nothing but obstruct attempts to rectify this situation. Therefore, and quite rightly, we are the subject of international criticism due to our failure to act in any meaningful way.

Now the Commonwealth is under pressure to suspend our membership due to our recalcitrance. Prominent campaigners, politicians and scientists have called for Canada to be suspended from the Commonwealth over its climate change policies.

Surely you do not wish Canada be suspended from the Commonwealth due to our lack of action on climate change – or to be mentioned in the same breath for greenhouse gas emissions as Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and South Africa are mentioned for electoral or human rights violations. Please commit Canada to legally binding, science based greenhouse gas reduction targets.

I'm Not the Only One

who thinks Canada is an international disgrace.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/26/canada-criticised-over-climate-change

Prominent campaigners, politicians and scientists have called for Canada to be suspended from the Commonwealth over its climate change policies.
Canada's per capita greenhouse gas emissions are among the world's highest and it will not meet the cut required under the Kyoto protocol: by 2007 its emissions were 34% above its reduction target. It is exploiting its vast tar sands reserves to produce oil, a process said to cause at least three times the emissions of conventional oil extraction.

We can change this. We must change this.  If we do not, each of us is morally responsible for killing people by drowning or drought in Bangladesh, the Maldives, Kenya, et al.