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Harper Has Already Described Kyoto as a "Socialist Plot"    [

    "We Can't Say We Weren't Warned"
    By Jean-Marcel Bouguereau
    Le Nouvel Observateur

    Wednesday 31 January 2007

    What's happened? Why this sudden keen interest in climatic phenomena? I have to say that each of us has had an opportunity to become aware of the seriousness of the situation with the mood swings of a climate that's become erratic. But the 500 delegates meeting in Paris under the aegis of the United Nations, the same ones whose first work had served as the foundation for the famous Kyoto Protocol, will - between now and Friday - give new bases for this recent anguish. "Indefinite growth is impossible, we only have one Earth, but a civilization of happiness is possible. Solutions exist, but public opinion ignores them, since the present power structures and those who wield economic and political power oppose those solutions." That's what René Dumont, the first ecologist candidate for [French] president, said as early as 1974. While he was preaching in the desert then and only garnered a weak 1.3 percent of votes, thirty years later all the candidates are pushing one another to sign Nicolas Hulot's "ecological pact." Suddenly, people are sounding the alarm everywhere. Not without some hypocrisy. Even George Bush mentions, thanks to new technologies, a "post-Kyoto strategy" - while he's refused to sign that protocol. And in Davos, the heads of companies have just salved their collective conscience by increasing the numbers of debates and roundtables on climate change. But only 20 percent of them consider protection of the environment to be a priority. These company bosses know that the break with growth that the Rome Club advocated as far back as 1972 is a death sentence for a capitalism that can't allow itself a drastic reduction in production and material consumption. It's a whole different economy that must be put into effect, based on other values. And unless we confront that unknown, we are in the process of compromising the life of future generations. The problem is that when they are questioned, the ardor of the French to act against global warming is as hypocritical as that of company bosses: 93 percent are ready to systematically sort their garbage or to decrease their electricity and water consumption, but that proportion falls to 61 percent when it comes to using the car less often. We are running into a wall. But no one can say we weren't warned.

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     Jean-Marcel Bouguereau is Editor in Chief at the Nouvel Observateur and editorialist for the Rèpublique des Pyrènèes, for which this article was written.

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    Harper Has Already Described Kyoto as a "Socialist Plot"
    By PC
    Le Devoir

    Wednesday 31 January 2007

    Ottawa - The prime minister who now promises to fight against climate change once wrote that the Kyoto Treaty was nothing but a Socialist plot to siphon off funds, which he meant to combat.

    In 2002, in a letter sent to members of his now-defunct party, the Canadian Alliance, appealing for funds, Stephen Harper ridicules the agreement and casts doubt on the science that underlies climate change.

    The letter, which could plunge Mr. Harper into an awkward situation now that the environment heads the concerns of Canadian voters, was made public yesterday by the Liberals, who deem that it illustrates the prime minister's true attitude toward the problem.

    "Kyoto is essentially a Socialist plot that aims to siphon funds off from the richest countries," one reads in the letter that is signed by Mr. Harper. "The implementation [of the treaty] would seriously harm the hydrocarbon industry, which is essential to the economies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Colombia. Workers and consumers everywhere in Canada would lose from it. THE KYOTO AGREEMENT CREATES NO WINNERS IN CANADA [editor's note: capitalized in the text]."

    He also denounces the fact that the treaty attacks carbon dioxide - which, he says, "is essential to life" - and asserts that the scientific proof of climatic change is "scanty and contradictory."

    Mr. Harper then promises a "Kyoto battle" to prevent Jean Chrétien's Liberal government from having the treaty adopted by the House of Commons.

    "But we can't do it alone. We need an army of Canadians to beat Kyoto, just as we had for beating Charlottetown [the Constitutional agreement]," he wrote.

    These days, Mr. Harper avoids condemning Kyoto, contenting himself with saying that the planned objectives are "unachievable." He has also promised to present a more muscular version of his law against atmospheric pollution.

    The Liberals deem that the letter proves that the prime minister is not interested in seriously fighting climate change.

    "It's not surprising that Mr. Harper's new attitude leaves Canadians skeptical," declared Liberal MP Mark Holland. "Now, with the polls, he realizes the political relevance of turning 'green.' The prime minister has launched a new campaign, one to convince Canadians that he really cares about the environment. Well, nobody believes it."