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Stephen Harper – Teflon PM?

Posted by Joanne on 3 July 2010, 8:58 am

Rex Murphy has a somewhat provocative article in today’s National Post - Stephen Harper’s sunshine moment.

On the surface it seems quite complementary but Rex wonders how it is that PM Harper seems to be getting a ‘free pass’ on the G20 controversies:

…They, too, realize that managing the “after-event,” getting the right spin out, is just about as important as managing the event. The Mayor of Toronto is out there, and even the McGuinty government is being asked to explain some of its actions, its “slippery” use of a regulation (which some claim didn’t exist) giving police special powers of detention and arrest.

Curiously, the most substantial question about summit security, its inordinate and still unbelievable cost — more than a billion dollars to protect a couple of days of meetings — is almost, now, after the weekend tumults, getting a total pass. It was controversial, a real issue, before this weekend. How could the federal government, a Conservative government, justify such a massive outlay just to secure a meeting?

Well, thanks to the ructions of the black bloc, it’s the lowest-rung question on the post-summit agenda. And who’s the great beneficiary in all this? Why, Stephen Harper. Everyone else, one way or another, is caught in the post-summit snarl, but not its host.

That fact doesn’t rise to amazing, but it is impressive. To Harper’s other skills, perhaps we may now add that of levitation–the ability to float free or above of controversies consuming everyone else…

Well I’m not sure how much of a pass the PM is actually getting. There are still many criticizing the choice of Toronto as the G20 venue.

However, it is deliciously ironic to observe the Telfon Premier acquire a little nick in his slick coating. Perhaps it is the beginning of the end of his choke-hold on Ontario.

We can only hope.

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Related

Self-anointed G20 ‘journalists’ should get real – Christie Blatchford (H/T Richco):

…Fourth, since with the wisdom of hindsight it is now apparent that everyone knew that the anarchists/Black Bloc types would try to wreak havoc on the city, why are the organizers of the legitimate protests not being questioned about their accountability? They too presumably knew – as did police and security forces – that their peaceful demonstrations likely would be disrupted; what steps did they take to stop such a hijacking?

( . . . )

…Finally, how amusing it is to see Toronto, press and public alike, whip themselves into a frenzy of outrage over alleged police inaction and then alleged police overreaction, when all of this, in terms even more stark, happened in Caledonia, Ont., from 2006 onwards, and no one gave a fig.

Exactly.

And another tip from Richco – A coalition? Don’t we have one already? Paul Wells:

...Another evergreen Ottawa myth asserts that Harper is somehow unfulfilled without a parliamentary majority. But he has had a majority for four years, thanks to a succession of not-ready-for-prime-time Liberals. Every budget he has ever whipped up has passed with Liberal votes.

And in concert with the Liberals, Stephen Harper is changing this country. He was able to gut environmental oversight of energy projects in the middle of a historic energy-sector environmental disaster. He is stuffing the nation’s prisons like Christmas geese. He spent $1 billion turning the country’s biggest city into a demonstration of the necessity (if not, ahem, the effectiveness) of tough policing against thugs, rabble, bicyclists and other miscreants. Inside the riot zone, with the world watching, he stared down Barack Obama in a debate over continued fiscal stimulus vs. relative budgetary restraint…

Yeah good point. The Liberals were the Junior Coalition Partners helping to pass the budget that allowed the G8 and G20 to happen so I guess they deserve some of the credit or criticism as the case may be. Wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

If only there were more Torontonians like this guy:

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Catastrophism collapses – Lawrence Solomon (H/T Maz2):

…Support for global-warming programs is also in tatters in the U.S., where polls show — as in Europe — that the great majority rejects global-warming catastrophism. The public resents repeated attempts to pass cap and trade legislation over their objections, contributing to the fall in popularity of President Barack Obama and Congress. Public opinion surveys now predict that this November’s elections will see sweeping change in the United States, with legislators who have signed on to the global-warming hypothesis being replaced by those who don’t buy it.

In the lead-up to the Toronto meetings and throughout them, one country — Canada — and one leader — Prime Minister Stephen Harper — have stood out for avoiding the worst excesses associated with climate change. Dubbed the Colossal Fossil three years running by some 500 environmental groups around the world, Canada — and especially Harper — are reviled among climate-change campaigners for failing to fall into line.

Not coincidentally, Canada has also stood out for having best withstood the financial crisis that beset the world. Fittingly, Canada and its leader played host to the meetings.

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Sunday Update

For the Black Bloc, it’s mission accomplished – Angelo Persichilli:

…I don’t agree with Ottawa’s decision to have the summits in two different places but I support the idea of holding it in Toronto, whether at Ontario Place or the convention centre. We can’t accept the notion that world leaders must meet on the top of mountains because we are afraid of a few criminals…

Filed under Big Environment, Big Green, Caledonia, Canadian economy, Carbon Shaft, Climategate, Dalton McGuinty, David Miller, Follow the money, Global Warming, HST, Harper best PM ever, Harper smartest PM ever, Premier Hudak in 2011, Protests, Your tax-dollars, climate change, environmentalists, scandals.
117 Comments

In the twisted world of Suzuki logic

Posted by Joanne on 27 March 2010, 8:27 am

There is so much wrong with this David Suzuki interview on Evan Solomon’s Power and Politics, that it would take way more typing to fully cover it than my recovering wrist will allow.

However the following portion made my head explode.

Around the  3:00 mark Evan is questioning Dr. Fruit Fly about the link between Kyoto, climate change and the economy. Suzuki is trying to make the case for an improved economy if a tax is put on carbon.

At 3:51 Suzuki responds to the Harper Government’s more pragmatic environmental stance at Copenhagen, by calling it a ‘bunch of nonsense’ and it’s just ‘all words’.

Suzuki then gives the example of how Sweden supposedly had lower GHG emissions and an improved economy after introducing a carbon tax -  and then he goes off on a very scary and angry tirade against the Canadian Government.

Solomon them attempts to provide a smidgen of balance by reminding him about the decision in France to let the carbon tax legislation die.

Suzuki’s response?

Wait for it.

“I’m not French. I don’t know”.

So what are you?  Swedish?

Keep your lights on tonight for Earth Hour, Canada!!!   David Suzuki’s are clearly dimming.

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Bonus: See if you can find Suzuki’s Stephane Dion put-down further on in the segment.

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Sunday Update

Big Liberal Thinkers want a carbon tax!!!    Hang onto your wallets, Canada.  (H/T Bruce and other attentive readers)

Liberals hear call for carbon tax – Gazette

Liberals across the country tweet carbon tax debate – Stephen Maher, CH

Tough issues grip Grits – Chronicle Herald:

…McKenna said Liberals are particularly “gun shy” about proposing anything controversial since the 2008 carbon tax fiasco.

Yet during an environmental panel later Saturday, imposition of a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions seemed to be a popular idea.

Panellist Steven Guilbeault of Equiterre said he was pleasantly surprised.

“I’m happy that there are so many people here who are willing to talk about this because at the end of the day it’s one of the most efficient measures you can use if you actually want to start reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he said in an interview.

Ignatieff, who first proposed a carbon tax during the 2006 Liberal leadership, has since said he won’t revive an idea that’s been so decisively rejected by voters. He now advocates a cap and trade system instead.

But panellist Michael Phelps, board chairman of the GLOBE Foundation, said a carbon tax is a much simpler and more effective way to influence consumer behaviour.

“I’d be standing on a soapbox saying, ‘Use less carbon, you’re going to pay for it,’ ” he said.

Oh dear. What will the Waffle do?

Inconvenient questions – Lorrie Goldstein

Why Sarkozy Dropped His Beloved Carbon Tax - Time Magazine (Pay attention now, David Suzuki):

…The President maintains he is only delaying application of the tax until the E.U. comes up with a similar initiative applicable to all member states. “Environmental dumping threatens our jobs, [and] it would be absurd to tax French companies while giving a competitive advantage to those in polluting countries,” Sarkozy argued, saying he remained committed to a carbon tax as a necessary move to protect the environment — though only once nations “who continue to pollute without shame” agree to become as virtuous.

How likely is that to happen? Not very, according to media reports in France. French newspapers and television news channels said Sarkozy’s address meant the carbon tax was “dead and buried” — most of all because of the high improbability of all 27 E.U. members voting in an identical measure…

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Can we trust the ‘Climategate’ inquiry? – Telegraph:

…What Lord Oxburgh kept quiet about, however, is that he is also a director and vice-chairman of a strange little private company few of us had heard of known as Globe International. The name stands for “Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment”, and it describes itself as a worldwide network to lobby governments to take more drastic action on climate change…

They try to keep a low profile.

And look who’s president of Globe Canada.

Filed under Big Environment, Big Green, Canadian economy, Carbon Shaft, Climategate, Copenhagen, David Suzuki, Follow the money, Global Warming, Goldstein, Green Shaft, Hypocrisy, Kyoto, Science/tech, Stephane Dion, Your tax-dollars, climate change, environment, environmentalists.
96 Comments

Was Stephane Dion just ahead of his time?

Posted by Joanne on 21 March 2010, 9:04 am

Electricity prices and associated costs will soon be skyrocketing in Ontario. No doubt about that.

According to a recent column by the Star’s Tyler Hamilton (Why paying more for electricity is good for you), the new strategy is to deliberately increase ‘dirty’ power costs to force consumers to use less:

…How do jurisdictions with more expensive electricity cope? It’s simple: they use less of it. That’s the remarkable thing about higher prices. It’s an efficient way to squeeze waste out of the system.

“People would be surprised at how powerful that pricing lever is, and frankly how little the price increase needs to be to deal with climate change,” says Heintzman.

Homeowners, businesses, governments and industrial facilities will be motivated to offset rising costs by doing a better job of managing their energy use and investing in energy-reducing retrofits...

So basically you will be forced to go green and you will like it.

And remember Dion’s Green Shift where some of the money derived from the carbon tax would be diverted into maintaining ‘social justice’? Well it seems that Dion was ahead of his time:

…Some will need help. A new $650-million industrial efficiency program designed by the Ontario Power Authority is an example of how government can ease the transition. The program, open to 60 of Ontario’s largest industrial players, will pay up to 70 per cent of the cost of an energy-saving project. Each project aims to reduce energy use by 30 per cent.

Likewise, there are both federal and provincial programs to help homeowners lower their bills through energy retrofits in advance of rising energy prices. The trick is to make sure low-income and fixed-income consumers get support through rebates and changes to the tax structure.

If it all sounds eerily familiar to the Green Shift plan proposed by Stéphane Dion, former leader of the federal Liberal party, that’s because it is.

Dion’s failure to sell the plan doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea. It means he failed to communicate it properly or the population, confused by opposition fear-mongering, just wasn’t ready for it…

So are we ready now to have power costs and taxes jacked up so that we can be forced to save Mother Earth and appease our social conscience as a bonus? This is a left-wing dream scenario and it is about to happen.

And what was the problem when Dion tried this? Was it the message that Canadians were against or was it the messenger? Or both?

And why would we be ready to accept it now as we try to recover from the recession?

Of course that would assume that we had a choice.

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Related

No payoff in off-peak power conservation – Star (re: ‘Smart’ meters)

And from the general realm of Environmental Propaganda:

Time to fight back against oilsands propaganda – Sun

‘No facts, please. We’re British’ – Edmonton Journal

North and Booker on Amazongate: A billion dollar cash cow – Watts up with that? (H/T Bruce)

Filed under AGW, Big Environment, Big Green, Carbon Shaft, Climategate, Dalton McGuinty, Energy, Flicking politicians, Follow the money, Global Warming, Goldstein, Green Shaft, HST, Just trust Dalton, Lemmings love taxes, Nanny State, Premier Hudak in 2011, Socialism, Stephane Dion, Your tax-dollars, climate change, democracy, economy, environmentalists, grassroots power.
32 Comments

How will Climategate affect Earth Hour?

Posted by Joanne on 8 March 2010, 11:05 am

H/T to Bruce for reminding us that Earth Hour will be rearing its ugly little head once again on March 27, in spite of the Climategate revelations and all the other scandals that followed it.

I see the WWF is still demanding action on climate change.

How about if we push back and demand some honesty?

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Related

The New York Times Fights Back Against the Climate-gate Scandal – Myron Ebell, Fox News:

…“Climate scientists are paid to do climate science,” said Gavin A. Schmidt…. “Their job is not persuading the public.”

If only that were so, even in the case of Dr. Schmidt. True, his salary is paid by American taxpayers, but it is almost certainly the case that over the past few years he has been spending a good part of his time during office hours and using government equipment to produce political propaganda for RealClimate.org, a web site run by Schmidt and Michael E. Mann. RealClimate.org has received help from Fenton Communications, the key P.R. firm for the Soros-funded left.
Thus Broder portrays Schmidt as just a scientist trying to be left alone to do his job, but in fact Schmidt is primarily a moderately-skilled political operative working to promote global warming alarmism. Here is Broder quoting Schmidt again:

“What is new is this paranoia combined with a spell of cold weather in the U. S. and the ‘climategate’ release. It’s a perfect storm that has allowed the nutters to control the agenda.”

“Nutters” is English (and Schmidt is English) slang equivalent to “nut” in the sense of crazy person. Well, Schmidt should know—his boss is the director of GISS, Dr. James E. Hansen. Hansen is widely considered to be the leading scientific promoter of global warming alarmism and as such is a highly political animal. He is also increasingly kooky and extreme…

Global Warming: Gore Vs. Gunter – NP:

…Honey bees aren’t dying off because of global warming; they’re dying off because of a tiny mite that has plagued hives for decades. Polar bears aren’t dying off for lack of food to eat or ice to cling to. They aren’t dying off, period.

And the devastating melt of Arctic ice in 2007? Turns out the ice did not melt “in place.” According to a recent study by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, wind pushed more Arctic ice than usual out into the Atlantic that year where it melted simply because that ocean is warmer than its Arctic counterpart. Not because the Arctic is warming rapidly.

Could this wind shunting have been caused by global warming? Sure. But it just as easily could have other, natural causes.

The point is, there is no consensus on climate science. There never has been. By flinging names like “deniers” at skeptical scientists, barring them from IPCC deliberations, preventing them from seeing the warmers’ raw climate data and keeping them from having their papers peer reviewed, activists like Mr. Gore and the scientists who agree with them have created an artificial consensus.

While that may be good politics, it is very bad science.

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Friday Update

Alice in UN Land – Peter Foster

Climate science: Let’s follow the money – Lorrie Goldstein

Filed under AGW, Al Gore, Big Environment, Big Green, Carbon Shaft, Climategate, Goldstein, Your tax-dollars, climate change, environmentalists.
33 Comments

But can we wish away Al Gore?

Posted by Joanne on 2 March 2010, 7:54 am

There is no shortage of point-by-point criticisms of Al Gore’s New York Times Op-ed, We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change.

My first thought after reading his steaming pile of rhetoric was why did he set himself up for the inevitable drudging?   Or does he actually believe that we’re that stupid?

And how is it that the alarmists can continue to hold him up as some kind of prophet and still keep a straight face while they warn us all of impending doom?

Anyway, here are some of the better fisks that I’ve come across. If you find more please let share them in comments. Thanks.

Al’s latest global-warming whopper – Alan Reynolds, New York Post

Al Gore’s weird, disconnected op-ed on climate change – Rick Moran, American Thinker

Al Gore Comes Out of Hiding and Gets a Fisking – Bluegrass Pundit

EXCLUSIVE: Inhofe Blasts Gore Over Climategate – Connie Hair, Human Events

But in response to Gore’s statement that “what is at stake is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption”,   Bill Kristol said it most succinctly:

“Redemption comes from God, not Gore.”

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Related

More inconvenient news for the global warming alarmists:

UN’s climate link to hurricanes in doubt – Times Online

Cyclone climate link rejected – The Australian

El Nino killed Costa Rican toad, not global warming – Oneindia

British scientist in climate row admits ‘awful’ emails – Sydney Morning Herald

‘The Acceleration of Disbelief,’ Starring ‘Floor Mat’ Al Gore - Big Journalism (this is a must-read)

So is this one: Climategate: ‘a lot of common data’ – Phil Jones exposes AGW dominoes to Commons committee – Gerald Warner, Telegraph:

...And oh, yes – one further interesting fact emerged from yesterday’s Select Committee grilling. Professor Edward Acton, the Vice-Chancellor of the “University” of East Anglia, now thinks more money should be devoted to researching the Mediaeval Warm Period. So apparently it exists after all.

Who knew?

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Local ‘Green Energy’ issues:

Wind farm faces opposition – Guelph Mercury article via Windaction

Ontario power risk – Parker Gallant, Full Comment

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Wednesday Update

Welcome Jack’s Newswatch readers!  And please check out Crux of the Matter – Trust Conservative gov’t timetable to refute AGW.

Peter Foster: Climate snow jobs – FP Comment

Wind power the worst kind of mirage – Henk Tennekes, FP

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Friday – Saturday Update

Waiting to hear ‘we’re sorry’ – John Robson, Ottawa Citizen

Blowing away taxpayers – Michael Trebilcock, Financial Post

Filed under AGW, Al Gore, Arrogance, Big Environment, Big Green, Carbon Shaft, Climategate, Copenhagen, Dalton McGuinty, Follow the money, Global Warming, Ontario economy, Propaganda, Science/tech, UN, Wind farms, Your tax-dollars, climate change, economy, environment, environmentalists, scandals.
45 Comments

Bernier rather than Charest? Mais oui!

Posted by Joanne on 26 February 2010, 8:16 am

Both Chantel Hebert and Susan Riley ponder the possibilities of a Maxime Bernier leadership bid after his awesome opinion letter in La Presse. But Riley lost me at “oil patch foot-draggers”, so we will shift our focus to Hebert’s more objective column.

Chantel’s theory is that Bernier is indeed setting the stage for a future leadership bid, and that Conservative party members would prefer Bernier to Jean Charest as the Quebec candidate. Well I can tell you that based on the readership of this blog, Charest doesn’t stand a chance in h-e-double hockeysticks.

Furthermore, Hebert suggests that the Progressive Conservative MPs may be out of touch with the larger grassroot movement, and therefore Jim Prentice may be vulnerable against a potential leader who appeals more to the base.  That certainly is a possibility. Prentice is a gifted politician but I’m not sure how much the base can identify with him:

...On Wednesday, Environment Minister Jim Prentice scrambled to distance himself from Bernier’s double-edged praise of his climate-change approach.
And the zero-growth policy the ex-minister advocated in his Calgary speech is unlikely to find its way into Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s upcoming budget.

But then auditioning for a return to the cabinet table is not what this is really about.

Bernier’s long game has always been to go after the top job.

These days, he is making the most of his unsolicited freedom from cabinet solidarity to stake out ideological ground that could stand him in good stead with the rank-and-file Conservatives who will select the next party leader…

Previously I haven’t wanted to indulge in these kinds of discussions because I’ve felt it was more the opposition and media trying to stir the pot and insert some divisions into the party. However I can tell you that the patience of the grassroots loyalty has been sorely tested in recent months and there are a few issues that will be deal-breakers if our concerns aren’t acknowledged. Less government interference, more fiscal restraint and a commonsense environmental approach are all dear to the hearts of my most of my readers and by extension a large segment of the party supporters.

And what are the alternatives if the CPC veers much further to the left?

I suppose we would have to sit home during the next election.  Pity.

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“It’s not debatable.”

Filed under Big Environment, Big Green, CPC, Canadian Government, Canadian economy, Carbon Shaft, Climategate, Global Warming, Jean Charest, Quebec, Voter cynicism, climate change, environment, grassroots power.
59 Comments

The rats are jumping ship

Posted by Joanne on 18 February 2010, 8:04 am

Yvo de Boer has just announced his intentions to resign as executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Can you spell f-a-i-l-u-r-e?

Meanwhile we learn via Terence Corcoran and Lawrence Solomon that ‘at least five major U.S. corporations have pulled out of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership‘. Yet several of our Canadian provinces are still hanging onto the cap-trade scheme.

Why is it taking our Canadian political leaders so long to catch up on the latest news? Why are they not at least acknowledging the mistakes?

As Lorrie Goldstein says today, We’re drowning in climate stupidity.

Demand answers, Canada!

Do not go placidly into that carbon trade cesspool.

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Related

Cap-and-Trade Cracks Up – Myron Ebell, Fox News:

…So cap-and-trade is dead. But other piecemeal energy-rationing policies are still very much alive. The Environmental Protection Agency is going ahead with regulating greenhouse gas emissions using the Clean Air Act. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is working with Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) on a “compromise” package that can gain bipartisan support. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has passed a renewable electricity requirement and new building energy efficiency standards out of his committee.

And big corporations are still circling the trough. By my count, U.S. CAP still has twenty-three corporate members plus eight environmental pressure groups that front for big business. And of course, BP America, Conoco Phillips, Caterpillar, and many other companies that don’t belong to U.S. CAP still hope to make money off the “right” sort of policies to raise energy prices.

The good news is that public opinion has turned decisively against global warming alarmism and energy-rationing. People have figured out that they, not big business special interests, will end up paying the bills when energy prices, in President Obama’s elegant formulation, “necessarily skyrocket.” And, guess what? In the November elections, the American people will have a lot more votes than James Rogers of Duke Energy or Jim Mulva of Conoco Phillips.

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In case you missed it:

Many thanks to Frmgrl and Bec for the tip about Dave Rutherford’s interview with Jim Prentice yesterday.  Definitely worth a listen.  [Click on Wednesday Feb. 17 at 11 am]

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Friday Update

Denial not just for the deniers – Peter Foster, Financial Post

Filed under Big Environment, Big Green, Canadian economy, Carbon Shaft, Climategate, Copenhagen, Flicking politicians, Follow the money, Goldstein, Lemmings love taxes, Science/tech, UN, Your tax-dollars, climate change, environment, environmentalists, grassroots power.
54 Comments
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