Wednesday, February 03, 2016

C'Mon, Don't Say It Never Crossed Your Mind.




David Suzuki says Shifty Steve Harper deserves a double helping of the ol' mandatory minimum in the Greybar Hotel for his years of 'wilful blindness' over the environment.

But the Rolling Stone interview didn't mark the first time that the activist has suggested jail time for political leaders who don't act on climate change.

In a 2008 speech at McGill University, Suzuki called on students to look for legal avenues through which to put politicians in prison if they ignore climate science, The McGill Daily reported.

Referring to Harper and then-Alberta premier Ed Stelmach, he said, "It is an intergenerational crime that in the face of the work of scientists over the last 20 years, they keep dithering as they are."

There are actual legal minds at work on the theory that nations and their leaders who recklessly endanger the global environment are guilty of crimes against humanity for which they should be visited with legal penalties. Another effort seeks to have the major emitters found liable to compensate the low-emissions Third World for the impacts of climate change they endure.

Climate change becomes a much different issue when viewed from the global perspective. It's when you see it from the perspective of the peoples of the sub Saharan Sahel, Bangladesh, Vanuatu and so many other 'have not' states that the deaths, suffering and displacement caused, in large part, by the developed world's relentless greenhouse gas emissions becomes tangible and, someday, it could be fully actionable.

6 comments:

Toby said...

Yes, it crossed my mind. Those who are in charge need to be held responsible for the mess they make.

Owen Gray said...

Like hanging, Mound, jail time tends to concentrate the mind.

The Mound of Sound said...


Hanging. Now there's an idea, Owen! Thanks.

Toby said...

I was thinking of something more appropriate like made to live downstream from Syncrude and having to drink the water.

The Mound of Sound said...

Not bad, Toby, but it's still a wee bit shy of Owen's hanging thing.

Toby said...

Well, Mound, we could throw him in a Tar Sands tailings pond. Just a dream, mind, but since he sponsored the mess he should have to live with the consequences.