A clear day on the climate change calender

Two glib indicators of global climate change surfaced on Groundhog Day.

Not one of North America's three groundhogs saw his shadow when he emerged this morning, signaling a veritable consensus that spring will come early this year.

But soon, our trusted groundhogs will be unemployed because spring will come early every year, if the IPCC's prediction of a 4-8ºC warming by the end of the century is accurate.

Today, the IPCC's more than 2,000 climate researchers from 100 countries (the largest peer-review exercise in the history of science) released their much-anticipated Fourth Assessment Report.

Public opinion (especially the 78% of respondents to a Globe and Mail poll who have noticed climate change they believe is related to global warming) indicates that Canadians are ready to listen to its grim forecast.

The IPCC's findings include evidence of increased sea level rise, rising global temperatures,widespread changes in precipitation amounts, ocean salinity, wind patterns and aspects of extreme weather including droughts, heavy precipitation, heat waves and the intensity of tropical cyclones.

However, Canadian pundit Rex Murphy is not convinced that mitigating such environmental degradation is not worth making an economic sacrifice.

Murphy questioned measures proposed by the Nobel Peace Prize nominee Al Gore, citing that Gore is no more authoritative on climate change science than Stephen Harper.

But, this week the Liberals unmasked Stephen Harper's faux environmentalism by circulating a letter signed by the Prime Minister that declared "Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations."

Sorry Rex, there is one glaring distinction between the views of Harper and Gore on climate change.

The views of a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, who spent 20 years researching the issue, and over 2,000 international scientists are informed.

The views of an Albertan, climate change denying, Prime Minister, who relies on inflammatory anti-socialist rhetoric, while trying to convince Canadians he's jumped on the green bandwagon, are uninformed.

The greening of the media

Does the recent influx of climate change coverage in the mainstream media indicate that a tipping point has occurred?

Today, for instance, a Factiva search of international news headlines containing the phrase "climate change" turned up an amazing 41,659 results.

The Globe and Mail dedicated the majority of its weekend edition to the issue and declared 2007 their year of "going green" (and literally turned their logo green for emphasis). Even the business section's headline read: "Getting richer by going green".

In addition, the front page of Sunday's Toronto Star lambasted climate change skeptics and the most recent Economist cover announced the Greening of America.

But, this week's Georgia Straight examined the role of the media in the climate change debate. In the article, University of Victoria climate-change expert Andrew Weaver says editors must realize they are being manipulated by pseudo-experts who cloud public debate on climate change and delay action through manufacturing doubt in the media (employing some of the PR tactics of big tobacco).

According to some scientists, the journalistic commitment to objectivity- giving equal and balanced coverage to the climate change deniers- serves to obscure the immediacy and severity of the issue.

But, as Jeffrey Simpson declares in the Globe weekend edition, the time for debate on climate change has come to an end. And Canadians seem to agree.

Even Marc, my trusted yet self-declared climate change "Luddite" friend, recently revealed:

"I blasted my friends for caring about such a tree-hugger issue, saying that nature was not my problem- high-and-mighty-me is more concerned with Human problems. Nature was some scientist in a laboratory’s responsibility. They will figure out this problem like they always do. Well, like many Canadians and Earthlings are coming to realize, I was absolutely in the wrong. This is the most Human problem that we will face in this century."

Has the increased media coverage of climate change created a corresponding level of public alarm? Or does the recent surge in public concern over the environment create a demand for increased climate change coverage?

Either way, at least the surge in public concern and media coverage demonstrate a functioning democracy. Politicians worldwide, including Canada's Conservative government, are starting to act on climate change.

The issue dominated this year's opening session of Parliament and an all-party committee has been set up to review the contentious Conservative Clean Air Act.

Baird under international pressure

Public concern over the environment is steadily rising, according to a poll conducted by Canada's Strategic Counsel and the Globe and Mail.

"It's developed a top-of-mind salience the likes of which we've never seen before,” said Allan Gregg, chair of the Strategic Counsel. “In 30 years of tracking, we've never had over 20 per cent saying they think this is the most important issue.”

Meanwhile, international pressure on Canada to commit to emission reduction targets is increasing.

On Wednesday, John Baird met with former British Environment Minister Elliot Morley,Tony Blair's special envoy on global warming.

Morley called on Canada to join "the G8 plus five"(including Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) to reduce GHGs.

This week, even President Bush addressed the environment during his State of the Union address.

He called on Americans to confront the “serious challenge of global climate change."

But Bush made no allusion to mandatory reductions in U.S. GHG emissions, disappointing a group of top U.S. corporations, who recommended a 60 to 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050.

Such wake up calls for Canada to join the world in combating climate change are especially timely. The International Panel on Climate Change will release its dreary fourth assessment report on Feb. 2, 2007.

It's not easy going green

This week, John Baird committed $30 million to preserve the Great Bear rain forest. After nearly a year of waiting for the federal government to pay up, the announcement conveniently coincides with the Tories' green makeover.

The Minister of Natural Resources, Gary Lunn, also pledged $300 million in energy efficiency subsidies for homes and a small number of businesses, as part of their "so-called" green plan (if Harper can refer to GHGs as "so-called", then I can refer to their green status as "so-called").

According to Keith Boag, chief political correspondent for CBC, the government's green makeover is a sign that it is realizing it was slow to act.

But, as newly reappointed Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale put it, "Have they changed the message or just the messenger?''

The green makeover started earlier this month with a new figurehead, John Baird. But the Conservatives need to convey they are taking action, and quickly. So they have looked to implement policies that can be enacted easily to convince the public they've changed.

The Tories have finally hacked into the budget for the sake of the environment, promising $230 million for research and development into clean energy, another $300 million in rebates for household energy efficiency (which sounds suspiciously similar to the Liberal "one tonne challenge"), $ 30 million to preserve the Great Bear rain forest, and $2 million to clean up the destroyed Stanley Park.

Although the Tory green image is starting to attract the attention of international media, like the Washington Post, the Canadian media recognizes that going green isn't as easy as doling out money for research, rebates, preservation and repair.

Going green requires more than a breezy image revamp. It requires directed action on the one issue that Conservatives find too difficult to incorporate into their "so-called" green plan- greenhouse gas emissions.

The Conservatives are trying to change colours from blue to green. But their plan needs to consider the sage advice of Kermit the frog: "It's not easy being green."

Greens shouldn't hold breath for Baird

At first, David Suzuki, Canada's most notable environmentalist, believed that appointing the notoriously outspoken John Baird as Environment Minister signaled a much-needed policy shift from the Tories.

Until recently, Prime Minister Harper used denial rhetoric to evade engaging the public on the climate change issue. Harper even referred to emissions as "so-called greenhouse gases".

However, some Youtube pranksters interpreted Baird's reputation for launching into impassioned rants in the House a little more cynically than Suzuki did.

In an attempt to silence critics concerned about Tory inaction, Baird presented a $2 million cardboard cheque from the federal government to clean up Stanley Park.

He also announced a $230 million ecoEnergy Technology Initiative, which amounts to a pledge for research and development into clean energy (including an exploration of nuclear energy).

But critics see these maneuvers as tactical, yet toothless, green'ish' PR for the Tories, who continue to avoid setting realistic timelines for emissions reductions.

While opposition party critics, like the newly appointed Liberal Environment Critic, David McGuinty, attack Baird's inaction on climate change, the Doomsday Clock advanced two minutes for the first time since 9/11 this week.

The clock is now set at five minutes to midnight-the closest it has been to midnight since the end of the Cold War. For the first time in history, the global failure to cope with climate change was cited as a reason, signaling that time is literally running out for Baird.

Exxon cuts ties to climate change contrarians

Even big oil is abandoning the deniers' sinking sinking ship (due to melting ice in the arctic)

Who is the new Minister of the Environment?

This winter, Canada's West Coast has been battered with storms, while the grass is still green in the East.

Vancouverites witnessed the visible effects of climate change in the city's beloved Stanley Park. Accordingly, Canada's new Minister of the Environment, John Baird, could not have picked a more evocative location to communicate that the extreme weather across Canada has been a "wake-up call."

John Baird inherited the position from Rona Ambrose during the cabinet shuffle that ushered in 2007. In his first press conference, Baird announced that the devastation in Stanley Park is "just an example of the kind of freak weather that we've had this year in parts of the country. This certainly is another reason that we've got to act on climate change."

Although this connection between extreme weather and climate change seems like a step toward understanding the issue, Baird did not start off his new term by unveiling a new strategy to fight climate change. Instead, he used Ambrose's infamous defence of blaming the Liberals for inaction, though he did say that alterations to the Conservative climate change plan were ahead.

But, the question remains: Who is John Baird? What qualifies him to fill, perhaps, the highest profile cabinet position, especially at a time when polls indicate that Canadians have prioritized the environment above health care as the number one issue for the first time in over a decade?

Baird is a star in Harper's caucus. He oversaw the Accountability Act as President of the Treasury Board. But will he be able to hold Canadian industry accountable for its emissions?

While the notoriously combatitive MP seems to take his job seriously, his critics are not convinced. The Western Standard even claims he has effectively raised the temperature since taking over the position. Meanwhile, environmentalists set out a list of demands for the new Minister and Andrew Coyne claims that Baird is only acting as Harper's 'neutralizer' on the issue.

Hopefully, in the weeks to follow, while the effects of climate change are still visible across the country, John Baird's stance on climate change will become clear.

Even more optimistically, perhaps he will take serious action toward recommitting to Kyoto emissions reduction targets, instead of taking the same embarrassingly lame posture that the ousted Ambrose displayed to the world as the Canadian representative at last year's UN Convention on Climate Change in Kenya.