They Can't Do It

In capitals around the world there's been no shortage of bold talk about the need to tackle the global warming threat but that talk rarely translates into more than token gestures.  The road to Hell is indeed paved with good intentions.

The Crown Prince of Sophistry, Steve Harper, has declared climate change the greatest threat facing mankind but his actions prove he's only pulling our collective leg.   Steve is Canada's Prime Petrol-head, the Imperial Wizard of petro-politics.   If he had any honest belief in his claim he'd find the cognitive dissonance of promoting the rapacious exploitation and development of the Tar Sands utterly overwhelming.   Steve, however, is a master of formulating iron-willed beliefs (i.e. China is evil) and then discarding them immediately they turn inconvenient (i.e. China wants bitumen).   Better yet, trace the scoundrel's constantly retreating positions on Afghanistan from the day he took power until today.

Steve may have the integrity of the lawn chocolates my hound leaves in the backyard but he's really not alone.   Other world leaders, particularly in Europe and Asia, are also resiling from promises of bold action to slash carbon emissions.

These leaders resemble cowboys in an old B Western, in a saloon sitting around a card table.   Each has his six-shooter drawn and resting on his lap while warily eying the others.   Nobody will holster his revolver lest the others pounce.   That's a fairly apt analogy to how our global leadership deals with carbon emissions.  Every one is afraid to act lest that give a competitive economic advantage to the recalcitrant.   They're all afraid to lead, consigning the rest of us to a "no can do" world.