Anything BUT "hot air"

Ever since the issue of climate change burst onto the scene in recent years, there have been a deluge of books tackling the subject, from various perspectives, often with overheated rhetoric about the plight of what our actions towards the planet (and its subsequent effects on our daily lives) (See Heat by George Monbiot, or Tim Flannery's "The Weather Makers") or the almost-complete denial of the issue being a big deal (*cough* Bjorn Lomborg, *cough).

Since climate change is a global phenomenon, these books take a global perspective. There wasn't really a book that analyzed it from a Canadian perspective.

Until now. I've just finished reading Jeffrey Simpson, Mark Daccard and Nic Rivers' "Hot Air: Meeting Canada's Climate Change Challenge" and I rarely say this, but this book should be required reading for everyone who acknowledges that climate change is a major issue in Canada. Here's why.

If you're a climate change denier, this book's won't convince you otherwise. It assumes climate change is happening and briefly summarizes the issue and science in one or two brief chapters so it wouldn't be too convincing. Its focus isn't the science, but the complete failure by our successive governments to be serious and committed to dealing with this problem, starting with the Mulroney government and ending right up to the Harper government.

It's saved its most scathing critique for the Chretien/Martin era, when they committed Canada (through Kyoto) to a difficult target, and then only set up voluntary measures, subsidies and as he said it on this morning's CBC show, "exhortations" as means to get Canadian involved. We all know how well THAT turned out. Instead of getting us 6% below 1990 levels, we were ABOVE by 25-26%.

And while they're less mean on Harper, they show how he and his government were completely blindsided the first time around (when Rona Ambrose, then Environment minister, became the sacrificial lamb) because throughout the 90s, they never believed in climate change anyhow. Smelling the political air changing, they quickly cobbled together a plan that was only slightly better than Dion's plan, with one major difference: The implementation of a mandatory emissions cap.

Their book is therefore bi-partisan in its critique, at the Liberals for failing to do ANYTHING, and at the conservatives for failing to believe in the issue. They also take swipes at the environmental movement, who've dogmatically regarded the Kyoto Protocol as the planet's sole saviour, and the Canadian business community, for being so antagonistic about dealing with this issue.

And this is where environmentalists might disagree with them but I agree wholeheartedly. KYOTO'S DEAD. WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE THE TARGETS IF OUR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT. MOVE ON.

While this doesn't mean that Harper should join that ludicrous "Asia-Pacific Partnership" (which by the way, has no compulsory components whatsoever, so voluntary targets will work SO WELL in Canada, as we've seen...), it does mean that our government (on both sides of the House) need to be adults and acknowledge that they've failed the public and the world community on this issue and that amends need to be made.

Their solutions are straightforward: Carbon tax, emissions cap, tradeable certificates, and carbon sequestration. Most of these would be compulsory, market-driven mechanisms aimed mainly at heavy emitters and energy producers. This does not mean they'll target Alberta (as Albertans are SO scared about that), as they show how different components can alleviate concerns but also reflect the fact that the Oil and Gas's newfound wealth has a cost that should be fairly paid. The carbon tax and the tradeable certificates would be the two that would really affect the individual.

None of these mechanisms will be very palatable, if only because the Canadian public hasn't completely accepted that our current lifestyle has a emissions cost that has yet to be paid. Their solutions are the first steps towards everyone accepting this cost.

While many people may not like using policy to change behaviour, we've seen that we won't do it voluntarily. We're all a part of this problem. It's time we be forced to do something about it.


P.S. Amazon customers are SO OFF BASE in that those who've bought "Hot Air" are buying books that pretty much deny the existence of climate change. Boy are they going to be disapointed. If anyone ACTUALLY wants to read a good book on the science of climate change, read Elizabeth Kolbert's "Field Notes From a Catastrophe".

Paul Pott's made Hell freeze over...

...because he's shown that Reality TV can actually show something decent. Let me explain.

People who know me know I loathe Reality TV. I avoid it as much as I can. This morning, at Chapters, of all things, my manager wanted to show the staff a youtube video that was related to an upcoming promotion.

Last year, Simon Cowell started ANOTHER Reality TV show called "America's Got Talent", which is to find ordinary people doing extraordinary things, people vote on them, etc. etc. Simultaneously, he aired "Britain's Top Talent" in Britain, on the same premise.

In Cardiff, the judges met one contestant by the name of Paul Potts. He sold cell phones by day, but he had something else coursing through his veins: opera.



To say everyone was impressed by his performance would be an understatement. The judges' reactions were particularly brilliant. I'd admit that it definitely sent chills through my body when he was singing. The unexpectedness made the performance even more remarkable and no one was going to send him home.

To spoil the ending of that season, he wound up winning the whole thing, and has since released a CD of him singing (which was why we were being informed, because the CEO, Heather Reisman, planned to promote his CD in our stores soon). Now, there are other clips on youtube of his performances throughout each stage of the show. However, I find them less impressive because he was more polished, they had these unnecessary pyrotechnics, and a few times, the crowd drowned out his singing. That first time where it's just him, the mike and his music, is where I find you get the full effect of his voice.

Even giving full credit to his talent, I realize that most of us with the untrained ear will find his singing stunning. I wonder though, with his lack of professional training, how he would stack up against the 'average' (if you can even have such a thing) opera singer (?!?! I'm guessing here). Any guesses here? Meileen, I'm looking at you for some assistance here.

Djokovic the joker

The first time I'd seen or heard of Novak Djokovic was at the 2007 Rogers Tournament this summer. Being an up and coming 20-year old tennis player was one thing (he's also Number 3 in the world, so he's really just up and coming in my mind), but being one with personality was another. Watching his post-game interview, he was having a lot of fun with the interviewer and making a lot of jokes. I found this unique because most often, athletes tend to respond in the ubiquitous, "I gave it a 110% on the court and I love my opponent like I love my dog, but game time, he/she's the enemy" etc. etc. etc.

With Djokovic though, he can carry on a conversation, and a fun one at that. Apparently, he also doesn't mind letting cameras following him around everywhere. I present to you three videos as evidence:

A series of impersonations of other top-ranked players during practice at Wimbledon.

Djokovic singing "I Will Survive". I don't know why either.

Djokovic introducing a journalist to some Serbian fare.

Everyone loves the impersonations. And judging by the related videos on youtube, he does it quite frequently too during practices. I hope it doesn't become his schtick though, snice that would make it tired and boring. After he won the Quarterfinals at this year's US Open, the ESPN or USA or wherever broadcaster OF COURSE asked him to do impersonations of Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal to the people in the stands and those watching at home...so that slippery slope's already begun.

Still, I hope he continues to do well. He's a phenomenal player and he's certainly brought interest back into tennis for me

More meta-blogging

Recently, I've found myself half-composing posts in my head only to abandon them once I reach the keyboard. Not for a lack of interesting topics certainly, what with the controversy over the Bomber Command exhibit at the Canadian War Museum, the proposed designation of the "Highway of Heroes" for the 401 highway (aka the MacDonald-Cartier Expressway, or the MCE), an appropriate response to "Planet of Slums" by Mike Davis, etc., etc. The complete dearth of posts seems to have created a positive-feedback towards my reluctance to write any piece of coherent analysis.

I'm hoping this will push me towards writing more again, so that out of whatever comes out, at least a small amount will be analytical in nature. Alright, that's enough self-indulgence for one day.