Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Letters Editor
300 - 1450 Don Mills Road
Don Mills, Ontario
Canada
M3B 3R5
Educating voters on Kyoto
It’s nice to see that Dr. Tim Ball retains optimism that reason will prevail on climate change prior to the election. He suggests that Kyoto should be an issue, as ensuing discussion would reveal to voters that Kyoto is worthless. (“Worthless Kyoto should be an election issue”, May 25, FP19)
Fat chance! Scientists, self described environmentalists, and governments have all been “educating” voters on Kyoto and greenhouse gas management for nearly seven years. Confusion still reigns and another month won’t help. We don’t need to appeal to the “gut feeling” of voters on this issue. One man’s “gut feeling” has already locked us into this mess with his decision to ratify Kyoto.
Fortunately, the federal government may now realize its mistake in rushing to ratify Kyoto. Liberal Party policy now states that; “We will respect our Kyoto agreements in a way that produces enduring results.” That seems a considerable retraction from an October, 2003 statement by Minister Anderson indicating governments would; “develop and implement the measures necessary to meet Canada’s obligation under the Kyoto Protocol”.
Hopefully, Russia will not ratify Kyoto. “Respect” for it can then shift to forgetting it. Otherwise, Canada may need to engage in major “respectful” apology, groveling, and negotiation to avoid paying for her failure to meet the ill-advised commitment to the United Nations on Kyoto.
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast