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Originally Posted by IliketoPuck
And that's the problem with the Canadian GHG debate in its current iteration. It shows such naiveté to how the world works.
Champions of the debate expect the everyday Canadian to bear the cost of GHG reductions for the "greater good of the World", with a vague promise that it will ultimately lead to an improved environment at an undefined point in the future.
To do so means sacrificing Canadian incomes and standards of living in the present, while the worst offenders of GHG emissions actively lobby against our domestic energy industry and directly impact our economy.
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It's not naivete at all. I fully understand we're in a prisoner's dilemma here. The problem is we actually gain very little by not doing anything at all. If we do nothing and the big players do nothing then we're screwed. If we do something and the big players do nothing, we're probably still screwed. If we do something and the big players do something then there's a chance we all
And yes we will have to sacrifice our standards of living. That part is very very obvious and has been for some time. The upside of that is we have a planet to live on.
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Exhaustively exploring all options means that we will likely miss a crucial window (if we haven't already) to get our natural resources to tidewater. The ultimate cost to the Canadian economy of these actions will be billions of dollars. Not just in revenue for energy companies, but in jobs, taxes, and myriad other tertiary areas.
Canada needs to look out for itself. First and foremost. We have the ability to build infrastructure in our country to get resources to tidewater. We choose not to because of “exhaustively exploring” all options. Companies looking to invest in Canada won’t wait forever. There will be a point where the capital simply goes to jurisdictions where it doesn’t have to deal with all the red tape. All for what? So that we can say we reduced Canada’s GHG emissions by a fraction of the global total? Get a freaking grip. Approve the projects. Take those billions in revenue and build some wind generators and solar panels to make yourself feel better once you aren’t paying a $10/bbl discount to WTI like a wide-eyed boy scout.
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I don't really know how to get this across any clearer though. Looking after our GHGs is looking out for ourselves as a species, which transcends being Canadian or Albertan. Like I said, people have a big problem with saddling themselves with economic debt, but have zero issues addressing the massive ecologic debt we've accumulated. A good economy is great, but it's essentially buying nicer deck chairs for the Titanic if we don't commit to fixing the environment.