Lord Vader

In his world the food and electricity fairy looks after everyone.

YoshiPal2010

And, pray tell, what keeps these airplanes in the sky? Perhaps they are working on a big rubber band to launch them into the air! Besides, aren't jet planes supposed to be one of the biggest damagers of the climate?

iaink

These are the sorts that blow things up on the ground to. What can I say, its steady business. Doesnt need to be aircraft at all though, the point is that mindlessly exploiting natural resources is not the only way to make ends meet.

The reality of the electricity fairy is that humans have been on earth, plodding away, for several million years. Consumer goods, electricity and internal combustion engines cant even claim several hundred years, a fraction of a blink of an eye in planetary terms. Humans dont need them, but we dont seem to be able to consider a world without them now either. The planet doesnt care, it will be here long after we are just part of the fossil record.

Oink

Guilty conscience?

Jingsamichty

No, I'm just not a hypocrite.

I don't, on the one hand, complain about the nasty oil companies making dirty oil, and then, on the other hand, drive to Timmies in a Suburban on the way to the mall to buy the latest must-have, made in China, electronic shite.

Oink

The problem with global warming is it'll no doubt make Canada more desirable for potential immigrants and that'll upset Dave.

Jingsamichty

Well, on another thread, there's an immigrant who's upset because there's no snow, so perhaps it'll all even out.

In the future, the immigrants who want snow will have to go to places like Dubai, where they make it in the desert for fun, and which is ultimately paid for by people who drive to Timmies in a Suburban on the way to the mall to buy the latest, must-have, made in China, electronic shite.

MikeUK

To be honest clear cutting isn’t accepted good practice anymore.

There are two major forestry accreditation bodies in North America the FSC and SFI, the global standard that is being encouraged by industry is FSC which discourages clear cutting, and both are working to reduce it.. So logging can be done, I don’t think we should stop, I do think we should stop using outdated methods that are considerd bad for the environment, and for what it worth bad for forestry long term, but then as you know it’s no surprise to me that Canada is behind the times and in things like this often found to be closer to third world methods than first.

For FSC certified products you need go no further than Home depot for wood, your envelopes from you bank, the packaging from Unilever, Nestle and more the world is moving forward, if Canada want to get left behind , it's not that the public wouldn’t buy it, But that share holder care, many companies want to ensure their stock can be traded on the ethical markets and get on the Dow Jones sustainability index, nobody wants a green peace protest on their door step like mattel got (see Asia Pacific Paper mattel) it's bad for business and stock value

laser558

I confess to not being a scientist and really am too ignorant to comment but I think George Carlin makes some valid points:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtrT5oG_IVc

Novocastrian

Namely?

laser558

As I say, I am not qualified to comment and maybe neither is George Carlin but I find his stance quite interesting. The fact, for example, that the world has been around for a lot longer than us and although we might have been on the world for the past 200,000 years, we have only been involved in heavy industry for the past 200 or so and is it therefore possible for man-made damage to have been done in these last 200 years. My uneducated opinion is that the earth is cyclical and constantly warms and cools and perhaps too much weight has been put on man-made global warming and not enough on the natural course of events. I feel that this might have been influenced politically, if that is the case, it is wrong. Now, at the same time, as an individual, I am all for re-cycling and re-using where possible and the idea of re-usable energy resources is very appealing but this is not because I am necessarily and advocate to the idea of man-made global warming, I simply think it is a good thing to do. For all I know, you might be a qualified scientist and can counter everything I say with some scientific fact but I just find it odd that for millions of years, the earth has been spewing so much into the atmosphere through volcanoes and fires (I mean, let's face it, people have been making fires for cooking and heating nearly as long as they have lived on the planet), that to say we might have permanently damaged the world through thoughtless industry simply over the past 200 years, just doesn't ring true to me. But then, I am so very humble.

Bali2010

yes the earth is old, yes as lump of rock it will survive - it does not mean that we will enjoy the life available

however for those areas already suffering droughts & floods these are predicted to get more frequent & worse

more cost (food increases in cost as crops fail), more disruption - floods, fires, droughts (which cripple manufacturing as water so critical) etc impacts from extreme events already impacting the UK economy & personally I would rather we worked to not increase them

in the extremes more famine, more disease, more death - I suppose if that doesn't impact Canada, then that is may be why they are rejecting Kyoto

it would be interesting to see what more frequent droughts could do to the prairies though - I would suppose someone has some info on that

I see that Russia is joining Canada

laser558

What George Carlin has said and in many respects I agree, is that we humans are arrogant enough to think that we caused the global warming. We might have contributed a little but let's face it, it is something that has been going on for millions of years and will continue whether humans live on the earth or not. I am sorry but I cannot believe that humans have been responsible for what is going on in the world and politics should stop suggesting we are.

iaink

You are aware that hes a comedian, not an environmental scientist, right?

Bali2010

I am very sorry too & hope you can find some more informed material to help you understand that humans do very much have an impact for what is going on in the world & always have had - just sometimes we manage to correct it (clean air act, environmental legislation)