[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

I'm willing to bet that most people would change their ways (including Herr Leo) if there were a viable alternative that allowed them to maintain an excellent standard of living at low economic pain and high convenience factor. The problem is that there really isn't that alternative available widely today. Fossil fuels are TOO good at what they offer, it's going to take a lot to displace them - or we will ultimately have to "pay the piper" and be forced to adapt with the planet as it changes like every other species and ecosystem will. That might not look pretty, and we might not survive it.

People who point to China being the problem don't understand that they're responsible for about 7% of the cumulative contribution to man made GHG in the atmosphere today. US is about 30% and the EU is about 29% (mostly through the UK leading first wave industrialization). Canada is about 2% of the cumulative contribution, FWIW.

Yes China's contribution rate today is high, but they're doing WAY more than any other nation to actually fix the problem. They're also doing this not just for climate, but to prevent the deaths of millions annually from particulate matter in their air. They're doing it because I think they understand very well that economies with the lowest cost energy base is in a position of great advantage in a deeply connected world. They are inappropriately vilified, they are among the most rational actors.

I also notice a lot of people who like to say Canada and Canadians shouldn't care because we aren't a big contributor. Well, you're voting on missing out on one of the greatest economic opportunities ever presented in peacetime in our collective history. We have an unbelievably unique mix of resources, climate, legal stability, education and reputation - things that should be leveraged into solutions for this problem, to enable doing something about it and being rewarded handsomely.

Quoted for being awesome.

Great post.