The CEOs of the fossil fuel industry are not saying anything about Global Warming anymore, despite imminent legistlation that will regulate emissions. WHY are they silent now?

Date:   10/18/2006 6:33:58 PM ( 18 y ago)

Whats with the silence from the primary players in the global warming actions being legistlated now?
They used to have lots to say, and were quoted and interviewed continiously about the subject of global warming for the past decade or more. Not a word lately tho...
Have we created the conditions where it has become impossible for some of Canada's citizens to say what they believe?

I am referring to our embattled hard-working CEOs of the fossil fuel industry, the major oil, pipeline, and power producing corporations. These 'unfortunate few' have the same rights as the rest of us here in Canada, but we may have stopped them from expressing themselves with the right to freedom of speach.

The hostile public opinion that would surely follow any pronouncement by these CEOs "that global warming is not real enough to bother making changes for", and that "our" air pollution is not a health concern because if it were, people living in the worst smog conditions like the large Asian cities would surely be dropping like flies.

These opinions of the oilpatch may go against the fad we see today where the public is largely onside with the environmentalists, but the opinions of the oilpatch are nonetheless valid ones with a lot of scientific backing. We are not hearing from them even now at this juncture where action against emissions is being seriously contemplated for the near future. We heard from them a lot when it was acceptable to declare global warming "not real". But not anymore, and that is troubling for human rights organisations who are all now lioning up to defend the right of the oilpatch to speak up about their beliefs on global warming.

If the oilpatch has changed its opinion about global warming, we should hear that too. If GW is real, then they will want us all to know what troubles we are facing, and they will also be just as concerned about the state of the planet for their own children and grandchildren.

Either way, this is no time to shut them out. After all, if GW is real, it is the oilpatch that we will be depending on for the future of the planet's atmosphere, it is the oilpatch that will have to make those emissions reductions that will allow us to avoid the absolute worst of climate change and extreme weather events. Emissions reductions won't happen without their efforts.

So where are the voices of the oilpatch on this eve of changes to how we provide our energy needs? Silent. Silent because anything they say now will be either admission of being wrong on GW in the past, or it will be "against public opinion" and all the scorn that comes with that. Of course, they don't really care about public scorn, the oilpatch has heard lots of that in the past. What is really keeping them silent is that they have their spokesman in Stephan Harper and his cabinet.

"Delay" is the game now, as it has been for a decade or more, in reducing our use of fossil fuels and embracing alternatives and even embracing de-centralisation and possibly de-privatising of energy [i.e. "nationalising" it]. By declaring that the government of Canada is taking action on emissions reductions but then not doing anything, delay is gauranteed for the oilpatch. They don't need to say one word, they have nobody to convince, not even Stephan Harper - because they tell him what they want and he does for them exactly that. He is them. He came from their loins. He was givien the nomination to become Prime Minister of Canada on the basis of his solidarity with the oilpatch and corporate culture who have the power and money to determine the leader of our nation.

So when we do not hear from the primary players in the game at the time when the rules are changing, it is because they are comfortable with the way those rule changes will affect their operations - NOT ONE BIT. Its just Harper paying lip service to the problem of global warming.

Canada is the #1 nation for emissions per person of the gasses that cause global warming. The USA is the#1 nation for overall emissions - 28% of emissions from just 5% of the world's population. Bush and Harper did not "win an election", they were placed in these top positions of power by the Elites who are heavily invested in the oil industry. They were placed in these top positions to ensure that emission reductions did not become law and that fossil fuels will be used as much or more in the future as they are now.

There is too much wealth to risk having an open and fair election.

So, no, we don't have to feel sorry for the oilpatch as concerns their right to free speach. They are being heard far above and long before any citizen is heard. Their silence at this time when emissions reductions legistlation is being enacted is evidence of that.

 

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