Environmentalism & Politics

There has been quite the hullabaloo in the media lately as politicians have woken up from a twenty-plus year hibernation to look around in sudden alarm and go "Oh my, we have an environmental problem." Hello?

When I was a teenager I wouldn't litter and a friend asked, oh why bother? I said, well it may only be me today but then tomorrow it might be me and someone else, because they saw me not littering. And the next day there could be three or four, etc. I feel vindicated that at least recycling has become more of a norm (at least in some provinces) than it was in my teens.

And at least by the time I was in my twenties I was reading about the Gaia Hypothesis (how the world is one symbiotic living organism and what you do to it in one place affects the whole)and how our pollutants were wreaking havoc with the world and if we stopped all smog causing agents then it would take at least fifty years to see any positive results.

In 1998 I wrote for a now defunct e-magazine (victim of the dot com downfall) called technocopia.com. It looked at how new technology was changing one's life and lifestyle, from cell phones in third world countries to robotic heart surgery. I was researching fuel cells and hybrid cars and came across the Kyoto Protocol. Governments had already signed up for it. So how is it in 2007 various governments have dropped out of fulfilling the requirements and now cry it will break the bank because there's not enough time?

I hear Stephan Dion say on CBC that pollution has just become a problem? What!! Just? Puhleese. I'm not sure what the benefit was to Tony Blair to stand up and start waving the big green flag but it suddenly looked like the cool thing to do and Canada jumped up beside him. George Bush of course is still in right wing crusder war mode.

But I'm cynical enough and eyes open enough to wonder why politicians would suddenly go on about this when a lot of us have known there's been a problem for over twenty years. Well, hmm, minority government. Who wouldn't want to keep our country green and with air we can breathe? For Harper it's a surefire way to garner a shiny star on his report card. But it would be much more believable if saving our resources wasn't done because of political maneuvering and was just done because it's the right thing to do.

And yet, the Conservatives whine and shuffle their feet and say oh we can't meet the Kyoto Protocol. Or, maybe we could but it would cost gadzillions and all you poor Canadians that we normally only care about when you're voting will pay the price. A few weeks ago on CBC the Current had business leaders from various sectors and they were saying that they were on board with changing and implementing environmentally safe processes and procedures. The interesting thing here was that all of them said that it would be more cost effective and they would probably actually make more profit by switching over. So how is it that the Baird Report says we're going to have to pay with our first born?

Perhaps I'd almost believe that maybe, just maybe, our lovely government was actually concerned with the environment and not with losing power if it wasn't that I see this as a big smokescreen. What have polls of recent years shown is the number one priority for Canadians: universal medicare. So why aren't we hearing more about this? Because it needs a massive overhaul. And we've all turned to look at the shiny new green flag being waved so that we won't notice the huge cutbacks, the ever longer waiting lists, the rampant deadly infections running amok in hospitals and killing people. Because the government can win votes easier with this lovely green beast than with the monster of medical coverage.

I was willing to let go some of my frustration, anger and disgust with the head-in-the-sand attitude various Canadian governments have had if it meant at least something was being done. But then we get the Baird Report; more stalling about actually really doing something.

I'm trying to do my part and have for years. I'd get a hybrid car if I could afford one. What part is the government really doing? Will they put teeth into their policies or leave them to gum the ankles of corporations and groups that continue to pollute? I'll wait and see.