Canada: 'Thuggish petro-state'?
Global warming experts say Canada's demands at Copenhagen could threaten "the wellbeing of the world"
Canada—yes, Canada—is threatening the world’s future, according to climate change experts, by emerging as the major obstacle to an agreement at the Copenhagen climate change summit. Canada removed itself from the Kyoto protocol as its greenhouse-gas emissions rose 26 percent between 1990 and 2007—it was to have cut them by 6 percent—and its massive tar-sand oil fields in Alberta have been deemed a global-warming disaster. Is peaceful, liberal Canada really an evil, “criminally negligent” polluter? (Watch a panel discuss Canada's reluctance to join climate change efforts)
Canada is downright villainous: I used to believe the U.S. was doing the most to “sabotage a new climate change agreement,” says George Monbiot in the London Guardian. “I was wrong.” Canada has turned into a “thuggish petro-state,” destroying a “pristine” area the size of England to cash in on the “dirtiest commodity known to man.” We can't let the corrupt "tar barons of Alberta" scupper Copenhagen.
“Canada ... is now to climate what Japan is to whaling”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Canada isn’t evil, just reactionary: Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s “wait-and-see-what-the-U.S.-does stance” on climate change, says James McKinnon in Canadian Money Magazine, has helped make Canada a top global “laggard.” But Canada’s domestic policy is “reactionary,” too. Climate change is already changing Canada, and Harper’s “leading from behind” policies will leave us going nowhere fast on melting permafrost roads.
“What are Canada’s intentions at Copenhagen conference on climate change?”
Comparatively, Canada is harmless: Get real—oil sands account for "less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions," says Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach in the Toronto Star. And Alberta’s oil fields have “contributed mightily” to Canada’s prosperity. Besides, if we need a carbon villain, 80 percent of emissions from a barrel of oil “come from the end use—the tailpipe.”
“Oil-sands hysteria only confuses climate debate”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Who are undecided voters, anyway?
Talking Points They might decide the presidential election
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Wildlife populations drop a 'catastrophic' 73%
Speed Read The decline occurred between 1970 and 2020
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona kicks off swing-state early voting
Speed Read The voting began with less than a month to go before the presidential election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published