Aipril 7, 2004 e the other press © ~ =~ Science Matters Canada Missing Out On Clean Economy Potential David Suzuki David Suzuki Foundation “Climate Ee has stuck its head above the parapet—it’s not an issue politicians can hide from much longer.” Climate expert Dr. David Viner told this to New Scientist magazine the day before the release of Canada’s federal budget. Well, someone clearly forgot to tell it to Prime Minister Paul Martin. Or maybe he’s just hoping to hide out until after the election, because there was certainly nothing in the budget that promises to take Canada out of the environmental dark ages. Yes, Canada adopted the Kyoto Protocol a couple years back, but we have done virtually nothing since. There is no plan to achieve our goals. There is no leadership. In spite of the widely held belief that we are good environmental stew- ards, Canada is actually one of the Name: Matt Age: 20 Program at Douglas College: Marketing Last CD in your stereo? Rancid Are you doing anything excit- ing over the long weekend? Gettin’ drive-thru and doing it Oh yeah, four...a full load. What would you rather be doing right now? Just about anyching, Paparazzi Angela Blattmann OP Photographer least efficient, most polluting coun- tries in the developed world. Our rankings compared to the other member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development read like a shopping list of failure. Air pollution? Second worst. Water consumption? Ditto. Energy effi- ciency? Again, 28 out of 29. At some point the federal govern- ment is going to have to wake up to the fact that our economy is fully one-third less efficient than the United States’. Every free-market pundit in the country should be up in arms about that number. How can a country possibly compete when it is so wasteful? Wasting water and energy is just plain stu- pid. It’s bad for business and bad for the environment. Unfortunately, Mr. Martin has given us a budget only a Luddite would love. Innovation? Not here. Vision? Sorry. What we got was more of the same. More sweet deals for the fossil fuel industry, more stalling on improving efficiency and little commitment to clean energy. In fact, the dirtiest energy source, x coal, has-been given a reprieve in the budget under the guise of being “clean coal.” Of course, there’s no such thing. Coal is dirty, period. You can reduce a couple of the pol- lutants coming out of the smoke stacks, but it’s still the most ineffi- cient and dirtiest of all fossil fuels. The heat-trapping emissions alone from coal should have us keeping it in the ground instead of burning it like there’s no tomorrow. Speaking of emissions, Mr. Martin actually released his budget the day after the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that levels of heat-trapping gases in the atmos- phere have hit a record high. The American team started recording atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) in the 50s. Back then, levels were around 315 parts per million (ppm). Today, they are at 376 ppm in the air and rising. If we continue to burn fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas at present quantities, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is expect- ed to more than double by the turn of the century. This, of course, is a recipe for dis- aster. Scientists have told us again | and again that the resulting temper- ature increases would severely dis- rupt our global climate, leading to more droughts and storms, rising sea levels and radically altered weather patterns. We have set this course for ourselves. It’s not too late to change, but we need to see some real leadership from government and businesses to chart a new path. We need to overhaul our econo- my to reward clean, non-polluting behaviours and discourage actions that damage the air we breathe and the water we drink. We need to encourage innovation that spurs new jobs. We need to recognize that doing things differently can mean doing things better. A clean econo- my actually means a healthier econ- | omy and a better quality of life for Canadians. Mr. Martin clearly had other concerns in this budget, but he cannot hide from this issue much longer. When and how he addresses it will be a true test of his leadership. Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at . 21 Program at Douglas College: CISy Last CD in your stereo? Star Ocean, OS2 Are you doing anything exciting over the long weekend? Watching anime? That's exciting. Til watch more than normal. Are you taking spring semester classes? - Nooo...I need the summer off. What would you rather be doing right now? Something else. Playing Disgaea. http://www.otherpress.ca Third Degree Angela Blattmann OP Photographer Name: Corey Answer: | think reality tele- vision is lame. I thought it was interesting initially when the first Survivor came out, but it’s degenerating the local film industry and monopolizing prime time. Name: Catherine Answer: It’s pretty pointless. There are other more educa- tional programs to watch. Name: Cindy Lou and Daniel San Answer: No, we don’t watch any reality TV. It takes away jobs from actors. Page 7