"Implementing Kyoto will cripple the oil and gas industry, which is essential to the economies of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia . . .
"Workers and consumers everywhere in Canada will lose. THERE ARE NO CANADIAN WINNERS UNDER THE KYOTO ACCORD."
He also blasted the treaty for targeting carbon dioxide - which he said is "essential to life" - and played down the science of climate change as "tentative and contradictory."
Harper went on to promise a "battle of Kyoto" in hope of defeating the Chretien Liberals' efforts to implement the treaty legislation in the House of Commons.
"But we can't do it alone. It will take an army of Canadians to beat Kyoto, just as it did to beat (the) Charlottetown (constitutional accord)," he wrote.
These days, Harper avoids critcizing the Kyoto accord, and simply dismisses its targets as unattainable.
Kyoto calls for a six per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2012. Canada's emission levels have risen 27 per cent since 1990.
The prime minister's office would not comment on the letter but pointed out that the emission levels occurred under the previous Liberal government.
Now, with public-opinion polls indicating that climate change is becoming a dominant political concern for Canadians, the prime minister is promising serious action.
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/news/shownews.jsp?content=n0130103A
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on February 2, 2007]
Note: http://www.macleans.ca/...
Harper Letter Dismissed Kyoto As A Money-Sucking Socialist Scheme
Posted on Thursday, February 01 at 09:24 by 4CanadaContributed By
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Stephen Harper derided the global treaty and questioned the science of climate change in a 2002 fundraising letter sent to members of his now-defunct Canadian Alliance party. With polls showing the environment is a top priority with voters and Harper keen to bolster his environmental credentials, the letter could prove embarrassing.
It was circulated Tuesday by the Liberals, who said it unmasks Harper as a climate-change denier."
Funny stuff, "climate-change denier". This is analogous to crime investigators being branded "crime deniers" for trying to find out the facts behind the events.
In fact, Harper has proven himself to be a "climate-change questioner" by his previous comments. Specifically, he is questioning whether the "science" attributed to climate change is on solid ground. He is NOT questioning whether or not climate change is occurring, nor denying it.
I believe in saving our environment for the greater good. Energy-use reduction is good for our planet by helping to preserve finite resources. I would prefer this reason to be used to encourage "greening" rather than the unfounded scaremongering of "climate change". The "science" backing the Kyoto accord is profoundly flawed.
Rico AB.
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Expect little from life and get more from it.
to give a damn about the environment is because they
want to get elected. They all have to kiss up to big
business, who, in the name of record profits, have
succeeded in destroying the planet.
It underlines the kind of conservatism that Harper supports and that is protection of economic hierarchy. His belief in the marketplace is so idealistic that he sees those who control it as the superior class and nothing should be allowed to interfere with the privilege he sees they earned. They must be protected from change. That is why he worked so hard to remove progressives from the party: they believe in an open society rather than the closed society that fits his ideology.
"Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations," says the letter, signed by Harper."
Harper prefers the international corporate/fascist blood and guts suckers out of the poor nations as his society and those to be protected at all cost.
I'm imagining Canada scrubbed clean of the "new" Harper government's dna.
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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche
And we know the Liberals are no different. No government will deal with the problem other then coming up with slogans. The one who get's the vote, is the one who can come up with enough words on the subject.
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Expect little from life and get more from it.
to give a damn about the environment is because they
want to get elected."
Hate to break this to you, but this is the only reason politicians pretend to give a damn about *anything* other than their own power trip and perks of office.