Climate Denial, Version 2.0
For several decades, the urgency to fight climate change has been systematically paralyzed by the climate deniers. In order to deliberately create confusion in public opinion and block all concerted political action which might attempt to remedy the situation, the fossil fuel magnates have spent millions on pressure groups or bogus foundations. This new form of climate denial is described in the National Observer.
Like tobacco during the 80s, straight out denial doesn't wash anymore in public opinion.
ExxonMobil has been the keystone of the deniers. This company has financed pseudo-scientific institutes, which deny climate change; consider think tanks like The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) or the Heartland Institute. Despite the fact that ExxonMobil has known about the reality of climate change since 1981, it publicly denied it; this is what an inquiry on the subject of this fraud reveals. Exxon risks costly lawsuits for this obvious bad faith.
In Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau and his provincial counterparts (with the exception of Brad Wall of Saskatchewan) now agree that climate change is an indisputable reality; they firmly proclaim that they must reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In theory, that is good! The catch is that a new form of denial, more subtle and more insidious than a straight out lie, can be found in the multitude of government actions which contradict what is said in public platforms. In other words, 'the walk doesn't match the talk'!
For example, M. Couillard says that he wants to protect Anticosti, but his government invests some $115 million to support the oil companies, which propose to "frack" the ''the pearl of the St Lawrence."
Likewise in international forums, our premier talks of reducing greenhouse gases, but, in 2014, he put in place the RPEP (Water Withdrawal and Protection Regulation) which is made to measure to allow fracking on Anticosti.
As for Bill 106, it contains a sop for the ecologists on the subject of energy transition, but the rest of the bill is so favourable to the oil industry that one would think that an industry lobbyist wrote it. And what can be said of the financing of the controversial cement plant at Port Daniel which will produce millions of tons of greenhouse gases; a succession of governments have pushed the art of the double-talk to the point of refusing a BAPE (environmental hearing)!
This holds true in the land of the tar sands; Alberta has made public a plan to cap greenhouse gases (GHG). With great fanfare, they announced they will close the coal power stations. At first blush we say bravo! But when we scratch a bit deeper than the headlines, this plan to cap permits a GROWTH in greenhouse gases. And, as if by coincidence, this growth in greenhouse gases is equivalent to what is necessary to allow for the construction of the Energy East pipeline.
At the federal level, former prime minister Harper was very favourable towards the tar sands; his successor, Mr. Trudeau claims that ''Canada is back'' by signing the accord of the Paris Conference with enthusiasm. However, he has done nothing to restore the environmental protections that the Harper reign demolished.
The objectives for greenhouse gas reductions of the Trudeau government remain the same as those of his predecessor. Worse, he authorizes the construction of the Pacific Northwest LNG pipeline to transport fracked natural gas to the Pacific ocean. According to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency(CEAA), that will have the effect of increasing greenhouse gas emissions from 6.5 to 8.7 million tons annually, that is, an increase of one per cent on the Canadian scale .
The version 2.0 of climate denial is a strategy diametrically opposed to the fine words proclaiming the fight against climate change. A few charming selfies are not sufficient to reduce greenhouse gases . As playwright Jean Racine said in the classical drama Iphigénie: ''Il faut des actions et non pas des paroles'' [1] (Actions are needed, not words.)
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Drone Images Highlight Climate Change
1st Prize Winner: Fog in Germany by SkyPro(01 of10)
Open Image ModalThis windmill pair was shot in the early morning hours. The shallow fog had been around for days because of no wind, high humidity and cold temperatures.
2nd Prize Winner: Church of Paracatu by Alexandre Salem(02 of10)
Open Image ModalThe city of Paracatu was vanished by a river of mud, after a mining dam burst at Mariana, Minas Gerais. It was the biggest environmental accident in Brazil’s history.
3rd Prize winner: Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia by Yuyusera(03 of10)
Open Image ModalPalangkaraya – The most polluted place on earth!This photo was taken on October 4th, 2015 when my friends and I did a campaign called “Kalteng with Love” where we gave free masks, milk and vitamin for the people in the city of Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Thick smoke was hovering over where we live. The particulate meter that day showed that the air was so poluted and reached over 2000 psi. The smoke was caused by the fires in Borneo peatlands that was started from the end of July. For almost three months the people in Borneo had to breathe such toxicating air. There are lots of people who suffered from respiratory problems. Schools off. Flights could not operate. Economic system became paralyzed.Borneo is known as the lungs of the world and the fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, and these fires are not helping. We were even labelled as the most polluted place on earth.Through this photo, I would like to raise the world’s awareness that this matter is a huge problem for all of us. This challenge is addressed not only to people in Borneo and Indonesia, but also to the entire world.Could you imagine if all of the forests in Borneo disappear and there is limitied source of oxygen left for over 7 billion people?
4th Prize Winner: Wind Power near Berlin by King-Fisher(04 of10)
Open Image ModalWind power from approx. 120m height.
5th Prize Winner: Energy Active Office Building, Genk, Belgium by Drone-Partner(05 of10)
Open Image ModalEnergy ACTIVE office building, about 1100m² floorspace : produce yearly more energy then it consumes ( better then passive house results !). Heating & cooling by deep geothermal heatpump with electric compensation of full integrated PV-solarpanels (BIPV) in 45°-roof.Owner : www.stebo.beBuilding designed by www.burob.be & www.geertdebruyn.be , construction : www.i3.beBIPV solar roof : http://solar.golden-glass.com/c465.htmlDrone : Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K
6th Prize Winner: Holbury, New Forest, UK by Mark Baker(06 of10)
Open Image ModalTaken in between two banks of fog in a 2 minute window. Showing the tanks and stacks of Fawley Refinery.
7th Prize Winner: Tiny island in the lake of Galvė by Karolis Janulis(07 of10)
Open Image ModalThe tiny island in the lake of Galvė looks like a continent and shows us how small our world really is. One tree cut on this island, one nest pulled apart or another kind of intervention will change it beyond our recognition. It is up to us all to make our planet clean and green
8th Prize Winner: High Tide in La Jolla, California by Kevin Dilliard(08 of10)
Open Image ModalThis is a picture of the king high tide crashing against this restaurant on the sand in la jolla shores. the king tide was at the peak in this photo at +7feet . is this a result of higher tides due to global warning.Today many coastal communities are seeing more frequent flooding during high tides. As sea level rises higher over the next 15 to 30 years, tidal flooding is expected to occur more often, cause more disruption, and even render some areas unusable .
9th Prize Winner: Dhaka, Bangladesh by Zayedh(09 of10)
Open Image ModalA playing field I grew up playing football on… It\’s now acquired by the real estate company and they are killed the green of the field, trees providing shadow and building the grey houses on it. It\’s a typical depiction of the impact of growing real estate companies in Bangladesh.
10th Prize Winner: Paracatu Cemiterio by Alexandre Salem(10 of10)
Open Image ModalAfter a mining dam bursts, it took almost 3 hours for the mud to reach Paracatu. Fortunately, it gave time for people to abandon their houses and run.The cemitery of Paracatu stays on a small hill, and it was there where many people rushed to protect themselves. And it was from there, that they saw their city being destroyed.There were no fatal victims in the city but the city itself.