Climate Prosperity: Canadian Government Launches Huge Campaign to Spin Global Warming as Good for Canada

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The Conservative government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has launched a huge Suncor-sponsored campaign to reframe climate change as a good thing for Canadaโ€™sย economy.

In a joint project between the governmentโ€™s National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy and the (in this case compromised) Royal Canadian Geographic Society, the Conservatives have introduced โ€œClimate Prosperity,โ€ on the face of it, a benign educational program that โ€œlays out the physical effects of climate hange onย Canada.โ€

But (points for transparency), the government also admits the thrust of the campaign on its tar-sands-fundedย  website:

โ€œWhile the phrase โ€˜climate changeโ€™ is familiar to many โ€” and a scientifically accepted phenomenon โ€”ย  the phrase โ€˜climate prosperityโ€™ is newer. It is a phrase the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy wants Canadians toย embrace.โ€

Canada, which has been actively blocking international efforts to negotiate an extension or useful replacement for the Kyoto Protocol that would actually begin to deal with the threats of global warming, has a different plan. Asย NRTEE President and CEO David McLaughlin explains it: โ€œAdapt and prosper will be increasingly central to Canadian governments, communities, and businesses as these effects become more and moreย evident.โ€

It is, perhaps, to the Conservativesโ€™ good fortune that they have allies in Canadaโ€™s newly remade national newspaper, the Toronto Globe and Mail. For more than a week, the Globe has been rolling out a series of stories celebrating all the great benefits that will accrue to Canada in a climate changing world. On Saturday, Sept. 24, the paper began with a long John Allemang feature on the bright future that awaits Canada in 2050.ย  This past Saturday, Oct. 2, columnist Doug Saunders cheered on the news that the โ€œInuit of Greenland have weather on their side.โ€ And today, John Ibbitson, who often seems to play the role of Prime Minister Harperโ€™s unofficial press spokestser, cherry-picked his way through the NRTEE report to crow about โ€œThe Silver Lining in Climate Changesโ€™s Clouds.โ€ Kudos, then, to the Editorial page staff who, at lest urged, โ€œDonโ€™t Accentuate the Positive.โ€

It seems to be a message lost on the NRTEE. If you pick your way through its membership, through the collection of politicians and business people, you will, perhaps, not be surprised by the direction of the spin. The Round Table lacks any representation from science and, as environmentalists, must settle with the CEO of a biodeisel company, and the executive director of Environment Probe, โ€œa public interest organization that promotes property rights and market mechanisms to protect the environment,โ€ (appearing like a well-funded, green-cloaked business lobby to fight governmentย regulation).

In defence of some of the actual material, if you look past what spin doctors like Ibbitson promote as the exciting bits – eg., an expansion in the Canadian cruise-ship industry and easier access to northern oil and gas – much of the rest of the material appears to be accurate, scientifically sound – andย horrifying.

But letโ€™s not concentrate on the negative, shall we. Letโ€™s turn away from the rest of the disenfranchised world and embrace Climateย Prosperity.

ย 

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