Conservatives and Big Oil - dealings behind closed doors

Do you want to know the connections between the Conservatives and Big Oil? Too bad; meetings are behind closed doors.

A handful of industry chief executives met behind closed doors with Environment Minister John Baird, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn to discuss the Conservative government’s new green agenda.

“As [Mr. Baird] reiterated, the Prime Minister wants to do this in a way that doesn’t harm the economy, and that recognizes that capital stock and technology take some time to bring into place,” said Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

The two-hour meeting was part of the government’s consultations ahead of firming up policy to deal with Canada’s growing greenhouse gas emissions. The three ministers held a series of private meetings in Calgary, where there’s rising anxiety about how aggressive the government will get to boost its environmental credentials at the expense of oilpatch growth plans, particularly in the oilsands.

But why behind closed doors? What's there to hide?

Mr. Baird described the meeting as “a good exchange of ideas. We learned more about some of the challenges, some of the opportunities.”

Yeah, it's better not to confuse the people with "exchanges of good ideas". Transparency, Conservative style.

Read the full article: Royal Dutch Shell PLC

Also at the meeting: Tim Hearn, CEO of Imperial Oil Ltd.; Clive Mather, CEO of Shell Canada Ltd.; Randy Eresman, CEO of En Cana Corp.; Hal Kvisley, CEO of Trans Canada Corp.; Steve Snyder, CEO of Trans Alta Corp.

Doomsday, Gary Lunn and the first Dutch Traffic Warning; Are Conservatives Connecting the Dots?

I'm in the Netherlands for two weeks and right now I'm in the middle of a severe storm:

The traffic authorities issued a warning to motorists not to use the roads if at all possible, in the first such use of the "traffic alarm" since it was instituted in November 2005.

The weather bureau said the storm, with southwesterly winds gusting up to 130 kilometers an hour, was the worst since October 2002. The storm, which follows a southwesterly storm a week ago, was expected to peak in the late afternoon. (source)

And I have to say; weather is seriously bad; winds of up to 130 km/hour are blowing through the country. Dutch train stations are closed, many flights at Schiphol airport are canceled; it looks like it's going to be the worst storm since 1990.

In international news, scientist are warning us (for the first time) for the world's two biggest threats. And guess what, terrorism is not one of them:

"As scientists, we understand the dangers of nuclear weapons and their devastating effects, and we are learning how human activities and technologies are affecting climate systems in ways that may forever change life on earth," said Professor Hawking (source).

Well, and then there's Gary Lunn. He uses the argument of global warming as a reason to expand nuclear activity on Canadian soil.

Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn yesterday said a $238 million green science fund, to be distributed over four years, will help pay for the research and development of technologies such as [...] nuclear energy.

First of all, nuclear energy is not a clean energy source. Secondly, I don't think Canada is in a "catch 22" like the US (Iraq, "should I stay or should I go now"); there are good other options that are clean and less dangerous.

We're in the 21st century, the century of sustainability. Let's walk the talk and do the math; nuclear technology is at the base of generating nuclear waste and nuclear arsenal, both contributing to the world's most important threats as outlined by Professor Hawkin.

There are many green solutions out there; this century is the (only?) time to do things right. With or without the Conservatives?