4 - Wednesday, September 7, 1994 - North Shore News Copps fiddling, biosphere burning we STRICTLY PERSONAL WHEN SHEILA Copps inherited the federal envi- ronment department, it was something of a smoldering ruin, having been pounded and muzzied by the Tories for so long that the prospect of a tough, hard-drivin’ minister being in charge momentarily breathed a whiff of life into the numbed souls of the bureau- crats. And just in time, what with Canada having-signed the Climate Convention at Rio, which means that we jolly Canucks have to report to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (LPCC) on the steps we are considering taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within a couole of weeks. {t's not, you undersiand. that we have to actually do anything yet. We just have to tell the world what we are thinking about. If anything. The Tories did everything they could to avoid doing anything, despite the fact that Lucien THE | CONTOUR [73 ADVANTAGE | PRICE PROTECTION POLICY BEAUTIFUL FIT GUARANTEE FREE SHOP-AT-HOME SERVICE CONTOUR LIFE-TIME | WARRANTY | FAST DELIVERY | WEST VANCOUVER: 925-3655 On TOUR Bouchard. when he was trying to build a giant empire as federal environment minister, had vowed that Canada would lead the world in cutting carbon dioxide emis- sions. Alas, the small-town lawyer with the Napoleon complex neglected to consult anybody, and in the process so thoroughly burned off the provinces, the petroleum and natural gas indus- tries, the coal-fired electrical utili- ties and the gasoline distributors that, to this day, talk of a carbon tax sends a shudder of fear and loathing through the energy moguls in Alberta and British Columbia, who anticipate a replay of the Trudeau-era National Energy Program, which bled Western Canada to prop up indus- try in Ontario and Quebec. As the spanking new Liberal environment minister, Sheila Copps faced the task of finding some way to live up to Canada’s international commitment to do something about greenhouse gases, which her party had pledged in their little Red Book of electoral promises to reduce to 20% of 1988 levels. Sheila was stuck, for openers, with the fact that the national task force set up by the Tories before they went the way of the Dodo had, as its chairrnan, Sue Kirby, a senior natural resources depart- ment bureaucrat who had been given clear marching orders by the Mulroneyites, namely: forget Bouchard, make sure nothing hap- pens. The task force itself, a multi- stakeholder type of forum, was cleverly designed to assure that even if by accident somebody came up with a legitimate idea, it would never be agreed upon, since both Greenpeace and Exxon had representatives at the table, and a consensus would never be reached. It sounds bizarre. when we con- LOW PRICE Purchase one custom-made venetian blind at regular price and teceve 2 second venetian china of up ta equal value at no eatea charge Choose trom seventeen colours. Canacian mace NORTH VANCOUVER 1226 MARINE DR. 984-4407 sider the fact climatologists have varned that, after nuclear war, the single biggest threat to civilization is global warming. but what the debate has come down to in Canada is whether our government is in favor of rolling CO2 levels hack to 20% of what they were at six years ago, or simply “stabiliz- ing” them, which is a Tory buzz- word meaning simply that we won't pump out any more than we're already doing. Scientists, by the way, say that we will sooner or later have to cut greenhouse gases back by as much as 80% if we want to avoid a runaway greenhouse effect, which would turn us into another Venus. But saving the world wasn’t Sheila’s job. All she really had to do was stick to her party's pledge. Sounds easy, eh? However, we are talking about those slippery fish known as Liberals. In the end, after much flapping about, the feisty photo-op artist from Hamilton did sign a let- ter saying that she “supports the goal” of a 20% reduction, an objective somewhat short of a phase-out of fossi] fuels, which is basically what the scientists are talking about. In the meantime, the national task force on climate change, despite the efforts of its Tory- appointed chair, came out with 80- odd recommendations for lower- ing our greenhouse gas emissions. This was surprisingly good news frem the environmental point of view, but that's as far as it weat Faced with the spectre of some- thing actually happening, the ener- gy producers left the table and went into a huddle with the federal bureaucrats, thereby simply freez- ing the eco-freaks out of the process. In other words, Canada’s policy on climate change was successful- ly hijacked by a “Gang of Four,” meaning Doug Brochet, the lobby- ist for the oil and gas industry, 66 Scientists, by the way, say that we will sooner or later have to cut greenhouse gases back by as much as 80% if we want to avoid a runaway greenhouse effect, which would turn us into another Venus. 9? Hans Konow, the lobbyist for the electrical utilities, and two senior federal bureaucrats, Doug Russell and Sue Kirby, wno decided on a devious scheme to try to get devel- oping countries to limit their fossil fuel emissions instead of us, but in exchange, we will plant a few trees and call it square. What this means, of course, is that there is basically no longer any public input into the decision- making process when it comes to figuring out what Canada’s response should be to the mega- problem of global warming. First the Tories stonewalled by setting up an unworkable task force that as more or less doomed to remain paralyzed. When, because the energy producers were asleep at the switch, the task force actually came out with serious rec- ommendations, the big companies sent their big guns to work behind closed doors with federal bureau- crats who are, after all, accus- tomed to the idea that they are industry's servants, who just hap- pen to get their pay cheques from the government. As they all know, if they are to move upward, they will sooner or later go over to the private sector. All this would just be political-industrial incest as usual, except for ine fact that means precious months and years are being eaten up that can never be regained, and fossil fuels continue to be pumped into the utmosphere at an ever- increasing rate. Sheila Copps is fiddling while the biosphere burns. She has abdi- cated her responsibilities, leaving the swivel servants and the energy barons to carry on delaying, stalling and stonewalling. She has not lived up to the Liberal election promise to act on fossil fuels. She has left policy in the hands of Tory-appoinied hacks. In a nutshell, she should be dumped from the environment portfolio immediately, and replaced by somebedy who is capable uf doing the job. Final Clearance On Suits, Jackets, Ties, Pants, Sweaters, Sportswear, Shoes and other fine accessories. All made in Italy, Germany & France. Open Sundays 12-5 p.