Jim Prentice Not Swayed by ‘Climategate’
December 2, 2009 · By Jonathan McLeod
National Post is reporting that the Conservative government is not changing its opinion on the science behind climate change, despite the recent CRU email scandal:
OTTAWA – The Harper government said controversy surrounding hacked e-mails of climate scientists doesn’t change its concern about global warming or its position heading into a major international summit this month in Copenhagen.
Environment Minister Jim Prentice said it was unfortunate that a prominent scientist was forced to resign because of revelations in the e-mails, but the government still believes the science is clear that human activity is causing climate change.
Take this for what it’s worth. We all know that the words and deeds of politicians do not always coincide. However, I’m cautiously thinking this is a good thing. As Mark noted the other day, skepticism is healthy. If the government is going to be a blind follower of conventional wisdom, that’s not good. However, I don’t recall Stephen Harper ever sounding like Elizabeth May, so I’m guessing the Conservatives will never actually be leading the fight against climate change.
(Yeah, I hate the ‘-gate’ nomenclature for political scandals, but whatcha gonna do?)
(H/T: @stageleft.)
I hope that the statement that the government is not swayed by the events pertaining to the release of these emails means that they had already taken a position of skepticism.
It is a hope born of statements made while the government sat in opposition.
My fear is that because this government has shown itself to be driven not by principle but by the uncertain and oft changing winds of pragmatism, and this story yet to gain serious traction with main stream media or the general sleeping electorate, it will continue to drift on this trackless voyage towards perceived votes while neglecting to respect those that have historically supported the conservative brand.
I believe this scientific scandal is the biggest story of our generation, but it could all be for naught if we do not receive the true leadership we are due. I know deep within our government there are men and women that began the journey into politics not for expedience but for deeply held principle.
I wish that these people that I deeply respect remember why they knocked on the doors and shook the hands and did all the little jobs with relish. Why they took to the streets and went to the people, worked hard and sacrificed.
Why we put our trust in them, supported them and volunteered for them.
It was not for their self gratification, ego or ambition. It was because they stood up for what they believe is right.
I hope that they remember that, not only on this issue, but in all things, because only then will they truly serve those they represent.
Remember you stand for principle, and at Copenhagen, stand for what is right, not what is a lie, not for the expedient. Lead on those principles with faith you are right.
Sorry to disagree with your optimism Mr. Forrest but this is entiely in keeping with Prentice.
The guy is a lefty, self professed “Red Tory” who can be pretty much be counted on to hitch himself to whatever lefty, trendy BS that will make him look like a touchy-feely non-offensive progressive.
Example – He has his MP office in the middle of Chinatown, (how very multicultural and inclusive of you Mr. Prentice).
His Stampede Barbeques every summer are held in the insufferable Yuppie, trendy, upscale, double-income-no-kids neibourhood of Kensington.
No, this position has “Prentice” written all over it. It’s completely not surprising.
The lack of conservative thought leadership is precisely why I stopped contributing to the CPC.
Here is an opportunity to take a principled stand against carbon cap and trade and to protect the economic sovereignty of Canada. Blindly following anyone, including the Americans, is not what I expect of government of any stripe.
There is a time to follow and there’s a time to lead. This is the latter. Time to lead Copenhagen off the pro-AGW, pro-Carbon-tax, pro-world-government rails.
Prentice is a total jerk and is totally out of his depth. I have a simple question for an obvious simpleton.
Mr. Prentice , what part of the now exposed fraudulent global warming hoax do you not comprehend ?
Was it the deliberate altering of data , the exclusion of honest peer review , the hopelessly confused computer programs , or the obvious socialist bent of the scientists involved in the CRU and IPCC ?
Brian,
AGW has been exposed as a hoax only to people who already thought it was a hoax. This includes, fortunately, a minority of Canadians. The rest of us actually want Canada to do something constructive about it.
Do any of you honestly think Prentice has the authority to determine the Government’s official line on AGW on his own? Really? From a party that doesn’t trust ministers to write their own speeches, somehow Prentice has any influence whatsoever on this topic?
If Canada had a genuine small-c fiscal, social and judicial conservative Prime Minister he would stand up enthusiastically and ardently as an antagonist of any kind of “Cap, Tax, & Transfer” system of new taxation and wealth redistribution. Rather, the “Cap, Tax & Transfer” system that left-plunging Harper and Prentice keep advocating is a stealth strategy for an enormous, disingenuous, long-term tax increase on all Canadian households. “Cap, Tax & Transfer” would evolve around an economic Ponzi scheme that includes an enormous new source of tax revenue to the Canadian government to allow it to continue to expand into the private sector, demolishing thousands of high paying manufacturing jobs, the emergence of global governance, create a temple of dome which would lock in devastating disasters for our children’s generation, and a devastating transfer of wealth from wealth producers to wealth wasters.
This tax increase and wealth transferring vehicle would immediately increase the costs of goods and services such as gasoline, electricity and a wide range of industrial products. The increase in the price of Canadian goods would make them less competitive. Canadian firms would suffer in export markets and domestically in competition with goods imported from countries that do not impose such a high implicit tax on CO2 emissions. There would no doubt be pressure to impose tariffs on imports from other countries that have lower carbon costs. Countervailing tariffs base on carbon content would hurt Canadian consumers, destroy thousands of jobs, and threaten our global trading system.
Any candid, forthright genuine small-c fiscal conservative would verify that the “Cap, Tax & Transfer” tax system is nothing less that the extreme left’s new, socialistic approach to redistribute wealth from wealth producers to others. An ingenuous small-c fiscal conservative, contrasting our CINO PM, would divulge that the “Cap, Tax & Transfer” system is just another version of Trudeau’s National Energy Program which also was created to transfer wealth from the west.
If Canada had a authentic, candid fiscal, social and judicial small-c conservative as PM, he would informed us that the climate has not changed in the last eleven years, that “Cap, Tax & transfer is a socialistic hoax to transfer wealth; therefore, he would not annihilate the Canadian economy just to please the left-wing extremists who insist on higher taxes wealth transfers. The first step must include a discussion pursuant to erroneous computer models which are based on bias assumptions and manipulated data.
It is becoming transparent that the so-called “climate change” panic is nothing more than a hoax by the far-left wealth redistributing advocates, and the tax the rich crowd.