Boycott Hypocrisy Hour - Become Enlightened

We already have Environment Week and Earth Day and numerous other Environmental Events.

We do not need another token 60 minutes to think about the environment before going back to our normal overconsuming energy wasting daily life.

On March 29, 2008 at 9:00 PM in our home the Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) will be on, as necessary, the Energy Star appliances will be running, if needed, the single compact energy efficient car will be in the garage, with the snowblower (nobody’s perfect) waiting for it to be replaced with the push mower, and the bikes and kayaks will be waiting to replace the skis and snowshoes.

There is a lot that you can do everyday to reduce your energy consumption and your environmental footprint that will have a lot more impact than spending one hour a year in the dark.

We like to blame the big corporate polluters And they are at fault. And the tar sands are an environmental crime against humanity. But even their development is driven by our insatiable lust for fossil fuels.

The automobile is the first thing to cut down on. Cut down on the number - everyone in the family does not need their own car, and cut down on the use. When we had four drivers living at home we had one car, which was not used for driving to work - that is what public transit is for. With a few exceptions the vast majority of urban and suburban workers do not need to use a car to go to work. And nobody living in the city needs a Hummer (status does not count as a need) or any gas guzzling vehicle,

Improve the energy efficiency of your home. It does not cost a lot to change your light bulbs and appliances can be upgraded when replaced. We replaced our inefficient freezer earlier than necessary but the energy savings will eventually pay for the cost of the new one. Don’t waste water. We think of water as free, or at least we used to - the costs of cheap water are now catching up with us and prices are increasing to maintain the infrastructure that we let deteriorate.

Start to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. Do you really need to drive to the corner store. Walk or bike - don’t drive everywhere. After awhile you will be amazed at just how far you can walk or bike and you will enjoy it. It will be good for your health and good for the planet. Get out in the bush, on foot or on a bike and start to enjoy the wonders of nature. Once you start to appreciate it you will have a real incentive to protect it.

Become enlightened - being in the dark is not going to accomplish anything.

NewSpeak Environmental Economics

According to an article on the CBC website:

Canada remains committed to the principles of the Kyoto protocol, but meeting its promises on reducing greenhouse gas emissions would require taking Canada into a recession, Environment Minister John Baird said Thursday.

Appearing before a sometimes hostile Senate environment committee in Ottawa, Baird said a Liberal bill calling for the government to honour Canada's commitment under the Kyoto treaty is "bad economic policy" that would result in 275,000 Canadians losing their jobs by 2009.
...

The economics just don't add up," Baird said, and warned that gasoline prices would jump 60 per cent and natural gas prices would double.

There is only one way to make it happen: to manufacture a recession."
...

I do not know what definition of a recession the Environment Minister uses but it is not the one I was taught. In a recession economic activity and productivity declines as does employment, disposable income and spending. This inevitably leads to a reduced demand for energy such as gasoline and natural gas. The Minister thinks this will lead to an increase in the price of gasoline and natural gas. I do not know what definition of the law of supply and demand the Minister uses but it is not the one that I was taught, that requires a reduction in price in response to a decline in demand.

I suppose, given that level of understanding of economics, we cannot expect the Environment Minister to understand the economic benefits to be gained from a more energy efficient economy driven by new environmental technologies that will be in high demand by countries and economies that understand what the disastrous economic impact of failing to act on global climate change will be.

I suppose we should be thankful that Mr Baird is not the Minister of Finance.