Approximately 90% of my acquaintances believe that man-made CO2 is unequivocally the cause of global warming. Most have done no research whatsoever and simply accept the oft repeated trope that 97% of the scientific community agrees. This is a demonstrable lie, the kind repeated ad nauseam by the mainstream media until the mindless majority simply accepts it. My position is that the “anthropogenic” narrative is a hypothesis, perhaps a valid one, but absolutely not a scientific fact. Many academics agree, claiming they have been silenced and in some cases banished by the institutions employing them. [Perhaps you’ve heard of cancel culture!] While this is certainly no place for a lengthy discussion of the science, it would seem important to note that the geological record is frequently at odds with the contemporary theory, historical increases in the earth’s temperature frequently accompanied by no atmospheric rise in CO2 levels whatsoever. At the same time man-made CO2 is almost insignificant when compared to a host of other “natural” sources, while factors such as solar activity would seem to make us a mere bit player in this drama.
But let us assume we are the source of what is a real problem. Ought we to respond with mindless fanaticism or reasoned pragmatism? On his first day in office Joe Biden cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline and put a pause on oil and gas leases on federal American lands, clearly announcing to the investment community that carbon-based energy projects were no longer welcome in the States. As the political Left is inherently anti-Western and anti-Capitalist, the anti-industrial agenda of radical environmentalism suits it perfectly. While some were perhaps giddy to see pictures of fields containing millions of dollars worth of pipes for which Keystone would now have to find other uses, indeed perhaps even happy that thousands both in Canada and the States would lose jobs as a result of Biden’s decision, I was appalled that he could create such havoc by merely snapping his fingers. [In July TC Energy launched a 15 billion dollar lawsuit against the Biden government for its irresponsible cancellation of its project.] I have read hundreds of articles denouncing Trump’s dictatorial tendencies, but when Biden used the brazenly dictatorial stratagem of an executive order on behalf of the sacred cause of Environmentalism, he was of course regaled in the media for the courage of his convictions. Such are the reactions of mindless Ideologues incapable of appreciating the real-world repercussions of their Ideology!
In April of 2020, the nations of OPEC+, as a result of the reduced demand for oil caused by Covid 19, cut their production of that commodity by nearly 10 million barrels a day. But over the last several months, as the world, however tentatively, began to emerge from the shadow of that pandemic, America has ironically found its gas prices soaring as a result of shortages induced at least in part by Biden’s “conscientious” January edicts. Hypocritically denouncing the financial hardships imposed on lower income Americans, hardships which he had in part caused, Biden, as reported by a number of media outlets on Aug. 11, implored the nations of OPEC+ to increase their oil production well beyond what they intended in order to satisfy America’s needs. OPEC+, by the way, includes 10 nations not originally affiliated with OPEC, one of which is Russia. On Aug. 17 Forbes reported that the countries in question had denied Biden’s request and would increase their output as befitted the health of their own economies, refusing to drive prices down by flooding world markets.
So what are the real-world results of Biden’s virtue-signalling theatrics in the first hours of his presidency? Not only did he do damage to both the American and Canadian economies, but he made his country significantly more dependent on nations that are in some cases decidedly hostile to its welfare. Economics, of course, to saintly environmentalists, are a crass “conservative” concern. But absurdly, ironically, Biden’s inauguration day antics actually enhanced the possibility of elevated, world-wide levels of CO2 by promoting increased production from countries whose environmental protocols are nowhere near as conscientious as most Western Democracies.
Here in Canada our hypocritical Prime Minister paid lip service to the Trans Mountain Pipeline designed to get Alberta oil to the Pacific coast, while allowing dissidents to disrupt the project for years on end. In 2014 the Energy East Pipeline was cancelled due to activist pressure and the resistance of the governments of both Ontario and Quebec. Denied pipeline access to the Pacific, Atlantic and now [i.e., Biden] the Gulf of Mexico, Western Canadian oil must travel by rail to the B.C. coast and then, to get to Canada’s largest refinery in New Brunswick, almost 12,000 kilometers by ship. It is an unnecessary trip that is demonstrably inefficient both economically and environmentally. Here in Canada every energy project is submitted to years of scrutiny and debate before being approved, but that doesn’t matter to our environmental fundamentalists who would rather have us importing oil from nations which don’t seem to give a damn about the environment rather than admitting, as is obvious to any sane person, that for the time being, whether we like it or not, we are still dependent on fossil fuels for the maintenance of our civilization. In 2019 Canada spent 18.9 billion dollars on imported oil. Absurdly, due to policies pursued by our very own “progressive” governments, more than half the oil used in Quebec and the Maritime provinces came from other nations, among them the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Russia, etc. Does Mr. Putin seem like the kind of guy who would submit his country to strict environmental regulation? Do the rulers of Saudi Arabia seem to you a “progressive” bunch?
Spurred on by fanatics impervious to the demands of the real world, simpletons such as Biden and Trudeau [I am not suggesting Trump is a genius!] have fallen prey to the contemporary Neo-Marxist notion that Western Industrial Man is the primary cause of all human woes, including the despoliation of the planet. That it has led them to empower others who don’t give an f… about the planet is utterly absurd.
And oh, by the way, even more absurd are the antics of environmental warriors such as Al Gore, David Suzuki and a host of hypocritical celebrities [ Leonardo DiCaprio, etc.] who insist on lecturing the rest of us on the consequences of our carbon footprints even as theirs are a thousand times greater than that of the average person!