Driving a new Ferrari Portofino, which starts at $215,000 Dave toured some of the burnt landscape on the elevated areas devastated by California’s recent horrific wild fires. Half way through the review he states…
‘Of course, some of you are reading and thinking me crass for driving a Ferrari — of all cars, Dave! — in the centre of such destruction. And maybe you’re right. But Corral Canyon is Malibu, where even the hired help drive Q7s and blinged-out Silverados.’
None of this sex and death formula would reach the necessary amped up level if Dave was driving a sub compact Mitsubishi Mirage starting at $11,000, I get that, but this is really not about any particular car but rather it is about all of them, burning fossil fuel at collectively increasing levels. What is interesting is the reasoning behind the mental disconnect on an issue that he and everyone else has heard about at this point in time. He wants to keep his gig, and that is to sell product so he forms content accordingly. But more than that it seems the issue for him and a lot of others is up for debate and global warming is just a another political football and nothing more.
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I’m not sure what conclusion I’m supposed to draw from having witnessed all this destruction. Environmentalists would want me to say that the ravaging of California’s greenery is a direct result of the internal combustion engine that has been such a large part of my life. The U.S. president, on the other hand, would like us to believe the entire debacle is the result of poor management by forest services. (Good luck with that, Donald!)
I think it more helpful to remember that tragedy touches us all, even those lucky few rich enough to own Malibu mountain homes and drive Ferraris full time. I am not a religious man, but for once, there but for the grace of God went I.
Dickhead, tho not without a modicum of self-doubt. It is probably a sign that all but the most disconnected have figured out that we’re in a mess of shit.
Leaving the scorched hills of California and looking at Canada on the provincal and federal level in terms of building an economic bridge between clean energy sources and the economy we have ended up, as Booth would say, spinning our tires. This week Stats Can released a review of green-economy accounts across the board and the picture is not pretty….
https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/philip-cross-statcan-just-exposed-how-worthless-green-industries-are-to-canadas-economy
The green economy’s share of GDP stagnated for 10 of the biggest years for pro-green policies and hefty government support, and against historically slow growth in the rest of the economy. If the green economy cannot flourish in these circumstances, it is doubtful it ever will.
My God, the world has idiots foisted upon it. Not so much because he is an unbeliever in what’s plainly obvious, but because he constructs things that have no other purpose than to stoke the fire under the trolls. [Check out the comments.] The claim above might make sense, I dunno. I kind of doubt it, but his diatribe doesn’t deal with any salient info, just cherry picks some details and, voila, evidence of a dead end.
The first thing that comes to mind is the 10 of the biggest years for pro-green policies and hefty government support. Really? We have hefty gov’t support here, especially under Harper? Where are the figures, Bud, and how does this stack up against oil industry subsidies?
Now I can’t fully blame this guy. I tried looking up subsidies for both industries. Was able to come up with lots of analysis from environmentalists on the oil sector, but nothing from them on the renewables industries.
https://www.iisd.org/faq/unpacking-canadas-fossil-fuel-subsidies/
https://environmentaldefence.ca/2018/11/29/four-new-handouts-oil-gas-companies-one-week/
https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/public-cash-oil-gas-en.pdf
Makes you think. A favourable comparison would help their case. No comparison makes you think subsidies for the latter are, indeed, strong. If so, as much as the oil industry? I would doubt it, but I cannot say. In any case, Cross says nothing substantive, just political innuendo.
I went to the Wikipedia page on Energy Subsidies and this had a lot of info, but none on Canada. We’re a small player. Nonetheless, tons of useful info, unlike what the NP columnist provides. Examples:
A 2016 IMF study estimated that global fossil fuel subsidies were $5.3 trillion in 2015, which represents 6.5% of global GDP.
Global renewable energy subsidies reached $88 billion in 2011.
Well, that’s telling isn’t it. However, in the last few years, in the US, subsidies for both energy efficiency and renewables have marginally outpaced those for the fossil fuel industry, but both are dwarfed by the subsidies for nuclear.
The amount of $3.3 billion for the oil industry sounds right. Let’s not forget $4B on the pipeline, rail car subsidies, royalty credits, etc. Let’s keep in mind that there is hardly a sensible, thoughtful approach to any form of subsidy for either industry. Surely, there is no sensible policy towards the development and organization of either industry. Oil is just the wild west, and renewables appears to be written on the back of a napkin.
Morons like this guy will always be around, though rags like the NP may [mercifully] disappear. Nonetheless, I would certainly wish for some synthetic, comprehensive and honest energy subsidy accounting from somewhere in the Canadian environmental movement.
Getting even more local on the environmentalism front drivers
here in Quebec have amassed a substantial Green Fund where
carbon tax on gasoline gets deposited for the use of cleaning
up the air quality in the province. CAA Quebec published
a smart piece on how this unspent money could be put to use
giving examples from Europe. The Gazette published an article
yesterday stating the CAQ announced they plan on doing
something with this resource but gave no details.
https://www.caaquebec.com/en/news/news/article/green-fund-must-serve-to-green-the-automobile-population-says-caa-quebec-1/
https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/quebecs-green-fund-will-be-overhauled-following-report-millions-dormant
British Columbia have figured out the formula necessary to make the carbon tax appealing to the average voter:
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2019/01/11/BC-Carbon-Tax-Success-Explained/