As these pages have acknowledged, socialists are smart, advocating for more government by wrapping themselves in the feel-good environment. Determination and imagination, yes, but as this series of columns has documented, much of the broad global warming/cum climate change/cum climate crisis narrative is untrue and designed to mislead.But first, Note Bene: This writer was called out by comments regarding the construction of windmill blades and solar panels, and I acknowledge the mistake, inaccurately describing how they are crafted. The broader thesis remains — it takes oil and other fossil fuels to build, transport, install, and operate windmills.The climate crusaders also redefine words to create or augment narratives. While no one suggests the climate never changes, those who disagree with the overreaching notion that humans are causing “dangerous global warming” (the assumption in Agenda 21 establishing that narrative at the UN Earth Summit in 1992) are labelled as “deniers.” This attempt to establish a link with those who deny the Holocaust is inappropriate and shameful.Alarmed by carbon dioxide or not, it is one of the essentials for plant, animal, and human life on Earth. As well, the existence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the planet Earth provides a degree of warmth absent in other planets — human life needs CO2. How can such an essential, orderless, and colourless gas be defined as a pollutant?Even more important is the ultimate objective of the climate activists — net zero — the most insidious of the narratives. The Oxford dictionary defines net zero as the “target of completely negating the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity, to be achieved by reducing emissions and implementing methods of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere such that global net emissions of carbon dioxide will need to fall to net zero by 2050.” .This United Nations created narrative, while completely unrealistic, remains a priority of our new Prime Minister. Rightly acknowledged for bringing a sense of calm and strategic thinking to the PMO, Carney has been one of the leading protagonists of climate narratives, supporting his peers at the UN, WEF, and EU.As these pages have repeatedly observed, there is a troubling question as to the Prime Minister’s commitment to “build Canada” versus his long-established and demonstrated role as one of the world’s leading climate activists. The inevitable dichotomy has now been exposed by the much-heralded pipeline MOU, a centrepiece of the ‘major projects’ initiative. His deep values are why the pipeline is conditional upon increasingly punitive carbon taxes, the decarbonization of oil, the consent of aboriginal bands along the line (entirely different than ‘duty to consult’), and the consent of the province of British Columbia (as if). Do you know any customers who are clamouring for decarbonized oil?From his book, in his own words, net zero emissions “will require a whole economy transition — every company, every bank, every insurer, and investor will have to adjust their business models.” A globalist who, since moving from the Bank of Canada to the Bank of England, has spent very little time in Canada. His important peer group is the United Nations (where he was Special Envoy for the Climate), the World Economic Forum (where he was a director), and the European Union, a climate-obsessed, overregulated, slow-growth part of the world that unfortunately Canada increasingly resembles. Only an ideologue like Carney would emulate and perhaps seek to join the EU. We have seen many examples of Carney, the clever political operator. Is it a stretch to conclude he wants this pipeline to fail and attribute blame to the Alberta government and the oil sands producers who decline to assume the uneconomic and open-ended risk of extracting, moving by pipeline, and injecting carbon dioxide into the ground (decarbonization)? .Even when the developed world was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Wikipedia, “global demand for oil plunged by over 30 million barrels per day at the height of the crisis in April 2020.” The continued consumption of 70 million BPD is a long way from net zero. Do we want to become another Cuba?Amazing as his instant political career has been, Carney’s self-confidence is unsettling. He wrote in his book, “I would remind myself each morning the Marcus Aurelius (a second century Roman emperor) phrase ‘arise to do the work of mankind’.” Self-confidence becomes self-importance. As he eschews market values in favour of “human values,” not so humbly, he believes he should make decisions for others, versus the freedom of choice of the market, because he “understands these things better than others.”Decide for yourself the wisdom and likelihood of the net zero narrative. But it is certainly misaligned with the free market principles that built our country and endure in Alberta and Saskatchewan.Even powerful narratives and strong beliefs must ultimately confront reality.
