Global Warming Deniers – Alive and Well in Canada

I recently received this request:

Hi Craig, I have been doing some research to expose some of the efforts by fossil fuel interests in Canada to influence the debate on climate change. Your book made reference to energy companies’ admitting that they had participated in such activities in the past but claimed that they no longer did so. Would you be able to guide me to reference material on this topic, because they certainly have not stopped doing it here – with groups such as “Friends on Science.”

Here in Canada they probably don’t need to since Prime Minister Harper is on record describing the Kyoto Accord as a “socialist plot to redistribute wealth” and the core of his last election platform was that the “Green Shift” approach taken by the Liberal leader Stephan Dion would “screw everyone.” The latest political move was for the appointed majority in the Senate killing, without debate, a climate change bill approved by the elected House of Commons. This bill was presented by the New Democratic party and passed with the support of the two other opposition parties, the Liberals and the Bloc Quebequois. This move was unprecedented – where a minority elected with barely more than 30% of the people who bothered to vote- defying the will of the majority in the elected House of Commons.

I’ve worked in the area of energy efficiency for 30 years, building R-2000 houses and commercial buildings to ever higher standards and really don’t think conservation or efficiency screws anyone, so I’m gathering material pertinent to the Canadian situation to make that case and any help would be appreciated.

Welcome to the Western Hemisphere, 2011.  And sorry, but I’m as lost as you are. 

I’m not an expert on the ins and outs of global warming deniers by any means.  But when I write about the subject, I’m referring to what I’ve learned from the hundreds of websites that have documented all this.  If you Google: “exxon global warming research,” you’ll have enough material to keep you out of trouble for a very long time.　

Coincidentally, I just noted this peculiarity in a post I wrote a few hours ago, i.e., how conservatives here in the US are hell-bent on convincing the world that it’s being screwed by the environmentalists. Personally, I believe it’s shameless, opportunistic, win-at-any-cost behavior, betraying the trust of the well-meaning but gullible folks who voted for them.  They’ve cleverly tapped into the stimulus-response thinking of the large majority of Americans who no longer read much, who will believe essentially anything they’re told, and who, because their worlds are collapsing around them, eagerly respond to messages of hate, fear, and blame.

I’m sure this sounds extreme, but if you have a better explanation, I’m all ears. 

I applaud your courage and your energy level, but I really don’t know what to say to help, other than this: thanks for your interest in and dedication to this incredible important arena.  Don’t give up. 

I hope you’ll stay in touch. I’ll be very interested in what you come up with.