Leading Canadian climate scientist calls BC NDP policies "regressive and counter-productive"
One of Canada’s top climate scientists - a Nobel-winning lead author on each of the last three reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - has written an opinion piece in the Victoria Times Colonist, denouncing the BC New Democratic Party for its opposition to the BC carbon tax.
Accusing the NDP of making “demonstrably false assertions” in its attack on the carbon tax, University of Victoria Professor Andrew Weaver says:
“The NDP’s so-called environmental platform is regressive and counter-productive. I hope our message to the world from the election is that political opportunism, gimmickry and short-sightedness doesn’t work with B.C. voters; British Columbians truly care about the environment and intergenerational equity.”
Weaver is also the author of the excellent book, Keeping our Cool: Canada in a Warming World.
This article is another in Desmogblog's ongoing coverage of the British Columbia 2009 election. We believe this is key election in the history of Climate Change policy in North America. Click here to read more about why we are are covering this election in such detail.
"political opportunism,
“political opportunism, gimmickry and short-sightedness doesn’t work with B.C. voters“ Since when?
I'll see your expert and raise you a panel of experts
Since the DeSmog web site won’t post coverage of. or links to the recent National Roundtable on the Environment and the Environment (NRT) release of their report on climate change, I will.
The NRT report recommends a unified national cap-and-trade system, like that proposed by the BC NDP, and makes it clear that a carbon tax is not the preferred method of addressing climate change in Canada.
Check my post: ‘Partisan focus clouds DeSmog mission’
Wow. Just like the Good Old Days!
I haven’t seen a dust-up like this at Desmog since Rob was banned! As a long-time follower of this blog, Krispy, I have found these folks to be even-handed and ready to give credit to ANY political player that makes progressive noises and backs it up with action.
The issue here, I think, is that the NDP knows that climate change is going to be big in the election, and that when that’s rolled together with the economic situation, they can score points by striking a different pose than the Liberals, especially if it makes them look like the White Knight fighting for the taxpayer. It’s cynical and opportunistic, and the worst thing about it is that if the situation were reversed, THE LIBERALS WOULD DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING. I am hugely disappointed in the BC NDP for using this as a wedge to divide voters who are genuinely serious about doing something about emissions.
Full disclosure: I am a card-carrying Liberal living in Ottawa, and I have voted Liberal, NDP and Green in that order in the past three federal elections.
Fern Mackenzie
ps - is that as in Krispy Kremes?