Having a look at the recent
election numbers from another point of view, I thought I’d try a “glass half
full” interpretation of our current situation. With 33% of the popular vote
going to the Liberals, and another 31% going against the Conservative camp, we
have almost a two thirds majority of support for at least, er, lip-service. Donning
my less-cynical hat, I suppose I’ll agree that it's a step in the right
direction...
The devil-in-the-details would
be the expectations behind the numbers. What hopes are pinned to the Liberal
plan, if not having our collective cake and eating it too? And what fantasies
are projected via GND but promises of a grandiose and sweeping technological
shift toward perfect balance in short order? As fantasies these narratives may
keep us going psychologically, but at the end of the day, if you eat your cake,
you no longer have it to behold. If we don’t vote for a GND, there’s no knowing
what even a mere attempt at that kind of shift will look like.
If only someone could answer
what the actual future is likely to have in store for us…
Clearly a “Green New Deal” or
equivalent, is not on the books since that’s not in the Liberal’s platform. Clearly
also, an approach to maintain national unity will trump all sorts of other
ideals, leading to compromises that will leave regions in various states of
disgruntlement, and environmentalists especially, fuming on the back-burner. If
the minority government lasts four years, my call is that Canadians will
continue to lead the world in carbon emissions per-capita – if not surpassed by
the Americans south of the border who will also be too busy with unity politics
to care very much about their emissions. Besides, they’ll be deep into the last
hurrah of fracking for oil and gas – itself a huge source of carbon emissions. Will
the American people turn their backs on both Trump and the Dems to vote Green? My
guess is not a chance.
So, there are my predictions
based on our recent (predictable) election results, and projecting similar (if
not worse) results in the 2020 US elections. Will the green activist camp
continue growing over that time? Let’s hope so. But the next big push may not
come until after another four years of status quo, when the campaigning ramps up
again.
The only other course of action
remains the one area where each of us has the most control over our share of CO2
emissions, and that’s our own lifestyles. Changes on this front may not affect
the lion’s share of emissions, but it may be all that actually gets done…