Igniting a Furor

Yesterday, author, journalist and NDP candidate Linda McQuaig made the comment that it was likely much of the Alberta tar sands oil would have to stay in the ground if Canada was to have a chance of meeting emissions targets.

Needless to say, a furor was ignited.

Let's step back for a minute.

First, Linda McQuaig is really only pointing out what many scientists have been saying for a few years now.  This is nothing new.  What IS new is that a politician actually had the guts to say it in public.

The elephant in the room is still human-caused climate change.  If you don't think that's a problem (doesn't exist, is a hoax....whatever your brand of rationalization), then nothing I can say here will matter one whit.  If you DO think it's a problem, then it should be obvious that we need to start having the conversation about what we should do, so bravo to McQuaig for bringing it up.

I do hope the NDP doesn't try to distance itself from this.  We need to have the talk about solutions to climate change; it's time to stop pussyfooting around this issue the way we've been for years now, just for fear of igniting just the kind of furor that McQuaig has ignited.

To those still pumping their fists in the air and yelling about jobs, try to relax.

Nothing McQuaig (or anyone else, for that matter) says about oil, tar sands, fossil fuels.... will make any difference tomorrow, next week, next year or likely even 10 or 20 years from now.  The jobs will still be there.  The oil will still be flowing.  Even if our intentions as a country (or as a world community) to get off oil were sincere (and I'm not kidding myself here - I know they aren't), it would take decades to achieve the change that we will need to make.

What we DO need right now, however, is the start of a discussion about what we can do that will start us on the path to a lower energy future, to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.  That's what we need, not a bunch of outrage just because a politician, for once, had the courage to bring up a controversial issue.