We (BC activists who recognize that climate change is an emergency requiring urgent systemic change) are proud to announce the winners of the coveted fossil of the decade award.In the great Canadian tradition of climate change denial, obfuscation and inaction few organizations have done so much to keep British Columbians mis-educated about climate change.
As BC's use of fossil fuels and resulting greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise even as the emerging science paints an ever clearer picture of how tragically serious and humanity threatening climate change will be for our kids and their families, we'd like to honor BC's BIG ENGOs: David Suzuki Foundation, Pembina, BC Sustainable Energy Association, Sierra Club of BC, POWER UP/ FOREST ETHICS for:
helping to keep the BC public profoundly mis-educated by supporting the BC Liberal government's 'showbag of dinky policy actions'* like the puny $10 carbon tax (instead of an effective triple digit carbon tax), the promise of supposed carbon neutrality through offset indulgence, and what increasingly looks like a leaky, corrupted cap and trade;
helping to keep the BC public mis-educated and in denial by stressing individual green shopping 'smart choices' instead of insisting upon systemic change like public transit instead of continuing planning and infrastructure for cars and sprawl (for only one example), and for supporting the BC government illusion of renewable energy instead of insisting upon real policies to keep BC fossil fuels in the ground until they can be used properly;
and, for being so politically naive and unprogessive and totally in climate change denial as to support Premier Campbell, the very epitome of the skilled politician stickhandling climate change instead of taking meaningful action, the very epitome of the skilled politicians who descended upon what might have been our last chance at Copenhagen to ensure that climate change mitigation continued to be confined, ineffectually and profoundly unethically, within BAU.
Premier Campbell to whom a couple of the Big ENGOs we are honoring tonight gave a Climate Excellence award at Copenhagen; Premier Campbell who does know the climate change science and does understand the humanity threatening consequences of continuing to just obfuscate needed change, who could have shown leadership in advocating for agreement on keeping fossil fuels in the ground and global economic systemic change (contraction-convergence, relocalization, a steady state economy, massive cuts to fossil fuel subsidies and military use of fossil fuels, etc) but who instead smiled as a salesman for a carbon trading system that will just waste another decade while directing big bucks to the undeserving.
With you guys helping him, applauding him, while his kind of myopic, business-agenda serving, small minded, territory protecting politicos wasted the opportunity of Copenhagen.
It's great that you guys are inside with influence. Imagine how much more our emissions might soar without your influence in CAT and with the Premier. Imagine how apathetic and confused, how ignorant of the serious tipping point to runaway warming danger, how stuck in a BAU with no future, the public, the Premier and his government would be without your leadership, guts and strong voices.
Ian, Matt, Tzeporah, Guy, Merran - all you guys and, of course, yes, Dr. Weaver too - come up to the stage for your award. And we have a special end of decade present for you all donated by a philanthropist who shall remain anonymous - A TWO MONTH SPECIAL CARBON ADDICT ENFORCED RESTFUL DETOX STAY AT HOLLYHOCK PUT ON BY THE SPECIALISTS FROM THE BETTY FORD CENTER!!! LET'S HEAR IT EVERYBODY!!!
*"(A) systemic political under-estimation of the seriousness of the problem … Because governments are not honest with themselves about the size and urgency of the problem, they necessarily transmit a shallow view of the problem to the electorate, who follow suit in seeing climate as an incremental problem. Voters are sold a show-bag of dinky policy actions on climate as 'solving the problem', and they reasonably conclude the problem can't be all that serious. Much of the climate advocacy lobby is guilty of the same incapacity." David Spratt
by Bill Henderson of Pacific Fringe
