Consider this excerpt from today's National Observer.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna tried to square the circle of the federal approach to pipelines and climate change.
On her way into the retreat, she said the forest fires "demonstrate that climate change is having a real impact on Canadians."
"This summer is a wake-up call. We've seen extreme weather, we've seen extreme heat that is literally costing lives, we've seen here forest fires, we've seen extreme flooding," she said.
"We know we need to be taking serious action on climate change and that's exactly what we're doing," she added, touting the federal plan to put a price on carbon, phase out coal and make historic investments in green infrastructure and climate adaptation.
That said, McKenna said the country is in a transition from its reliance on fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.
"Transitions do not happen overnight," she said. "I've always said I'm the environment minister for energy workers as much as environmentalists."In other words, Dame Cathy imagines her ministerial duties put energy workers on a par with environmentalists. This is nothing new for her. She has repeatedly equated the economy and the environment as her Environment and Climate Change ministry's portfolio.
That's sort of like proclaiming herself the minister for poachers as much as endangered wildlife species they target.
Besides I thought we had a ministry for energy and natural resources. If she's going to be doing both jobs, at least fire that other dude.
6 comments:
An absolute disgrace, this woman is counting on the ignorance of Canadians to carry the day and obscure her capitulation in the climate-change battle.
"This summer is a wake-up call. We've seen extreme weather, we've seen extreme heat that is literally costing lives, we've seen here forest fires, we've seen extreme flooding," she said
It's only a wake-up call if you've been under a rock for the past decade or more. If you set the alarm for 8am and hit snooze until noon, you did not get up in time.
-PF
"extreme heat that is literally costing lives." And so it is. Which must somehow explain why flooding world markets with the most energy-intensive, high-carbon ersatz fossil fuel, bitumen, makes so much sense. Man-made greenhouse gas emissions are already "literally costing lives" so let's just make that even more lethal. Besides those turning turtle are mainly the vulnerable people of the poorest countries. They hardly matter to people like Trudeau, McKenna, Carr, Notley or the entire Conservative caucus.
Watching McKenna the un-pc label "Climate Barbie" sort of makes sense. Every time the doll is shaken it says, "We know we need to be taking serious action on climate change and that's exactly what we're doing." Shake it again, you'll hear it again.
McKenna is all talk and no substantial action. Like Trudeau, she hasn't proposed anything that we haven't been hearing about for the last 40 years.
I really wish she was "the environment minister for energy workers as much as environmentalists." If she was, she wouldn't be giving environmentalists the stiff finger.
The way to square the circle is to shut down tar sands operations, subsidize renewable energy and provide former oil and gas workers with a guaranteed minimum income and generous retaining grants.
Cap
Maybe she's the Kellyanne Conway of the Trudeau government.
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