Thursday, May 13, 2010

Global Leadership: Green Jobs beyond the Lobbyist?

Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will have their hands full during the G8 meetings. I have a question where is the evidence of those green jobs in Europe or California?

The leaders of the European Union are crafting a second plan this weekend that will see all members pledge to cut deficits with “great speed” in an effort to stop the spread of the Greek debt crisis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is among the most influential E.U. leaders, outlined the plan Saturday following a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. here.

“I don’t think we should forget the primary crisis here, the fundamental crisis, is not in the financial sector. It is in the finances of certain governments,” he said. “It’s important for all countries to understand that high levels of deficit and debt cannot continue indefinitely and in some countries they are very high and that issue does have to be tackled and it has to be tackled not just in Europe but across the globe.”- Prime Minister Stephen Harper

The opposition parties of Liberals, Democrats, Separatist in Quebec are now are in agreement with increasing or freezing tax cuts on large corporations to balance the deficit? Are these Band of Merrymen promising to use it towards lowering our deficit or is this just another opportunity to play Robin Hood?

If we examine the cuts in policies, programs the lobbied corporations are benefitting from getting exemptions in Germany leaving the middle class and small business owner to pick up the "green tab".

Cash For Clunkers in the U.S. and Europe has been sold as a Green Program to help the planet earth. Check out the clip on the privacy agreement in the U.S. here.

To get the full $4,500, those new cars must be at least 10 mpg more fuel efficient than the older model they replace, and trucks must be 5 mpg more efficient.  It has been great for getting our loan repaid ahead of schedule, auto sales are up as a Canadian owner in  G.M., Chrysler compliments of our auto bailout I am scratching my head. This is lobbying helping the unions, large companies repair their balance sheets. I don't see how this helps the environment.

...you do the numbers, the idea that you can go green by trading in your old car for a new one as quickly as possible is car-crash logic

Does history prove the regulations, "tax breaks",  financial incentives are given as a result of lobbying? If so shoud we examine if relationships exist that might pose a conflict or bias?

We have been hearing for the last few days about an ex-MP Rahim Jaffer who failed to win any  "Green Energy" contracts. We heard later from John Baird about a web page advertising lobbying from a Liberal MP.

Is the Green Energy Lobby big? Here is link on some books on one party of the Green Lobby  "Global Warming", it appears a large number of trees may have died to sell those books. As an Ontario resident going to be hit with double digits rate increases in my hydro and the H.S.T. I am wondering if the media in Canada are paying attention.

The Green Energy Act was originally proposed by the Ontario Green Energy Act Alliance,1 a coalition of the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, together with other trade associations, developers, manufacturers, and environmental groups including the David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence Canada, Pembina Institute and World Wildlife Fund Canada. Their proposal eventually formed the basis of the Green Energy Act.

Does our Canadian mainstream media have any interest or research to investigate if advocates, staff, lobbyists are benefitting from "Global Warming" in Canada beyond the busty hookers Rahim narrative? Do these Green lobbyists have potential conflicts or bias in changing the regulations or framing the traditional sources of energy natural gas, oil, coal, nuclear enery industry in a negative light?

Who is employed in these think tanks, environmental advocacy groups and do they have a financial interest or a common agenda that might benefit from framing the fossil fuel industry as greedy capitalists whose intent is to harm the planet earth?
This is an open question and not intended to be critical or suggest anything is overtly wrong. It is skeptic asking for our Canadian media to dig deeper and look at all the players and inform us.

Pembina Institute - John Robinson Secretary, is also a professor with the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, and the Department of Geography, at the University of British Columbia. He has been a Lead Author in the last three reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Layton calls for halt to tar sands approvals
Jack Layton, NDP calls for a moratorium on the Oilsands?

Oils sands account for 1%, Canada 2% of Carbon Emissions?

Environmental Defence works with individual Canadians, decision-makers and businesses to make the environment a top priority.

Mike Layton, after working for the provincial NDP, Layton was hired by Environmental Defence, where he's deputy director, and helped organize the Green Energy Act Alliance.

Are the middle class, small business owners going to benefit with the twenty per cent increase hydro rates to build those Windmills bird choppers in Ontario? Can the small business owner pass along those costs? Spain followed the Green Myth of Jobs nearly a decade ago, it has unemployment over 18-19% for two years.

Chair, Board of Directors, Ian Morton - Pollution Probe

When Ian Morton declares, with a certain evangelism, that "green is the new black," one can't help but believe him. But he's also right. Big brands are finally recognizing that good works can equal good ROI. Morton tapped into the thinking before it became trendy, funneling his 16 years of working for a variety of environmental organizations, into starting Summerhill Group in 2001, a Toronto agency that does ROI-friendly strategies for clients to help move the market toward better choices for consumers and the environment.Strategyonline

A New Transformation
The buzz generated by President Obama’s recent visit to Ottawa has exposed our craving for visionary and inspired leadership in Canada. We are living in a period of tremendous economic uncertainty and opportunity; a time that requires a decisive action plan to transform Canada into a global leader in renewable energy, innovative technology, and "know-how". Areas that will create high paying jobs and a cleaner environment for future generations.

Ian Morton is Founder & Chief Executive Officer of the Summerhill Group. Ian is a recognized leader on environment issues; responsible for creating some of the most innovative and effective public engagement programs on air quality, climate change, and healthy housing in Canada. Ian was instrumental in the creation of the Clean Air Foundation and Healthy Indoors Partnership and has won several awards in honour of his work. He was named by Strategy Magazine as one of seven marketing leaders to watch in 2006 and was appointed to an advisory panel of eminent Canadians to provide advice and assistance to the Government of Canada at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Indonesia in 2007. He has been personally trained on the Climate Project by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.


The Conservative government needs to terminate spending in wasteful programs. Are the programs being initiated in the name of Green Energy real and cost effective? If so where are the case studies from Norway, Spain, Germany, California? Has their use of Carbon based fossil fuels gone down and if not why and how much have they spent in chasing the Green Jobs Myth?

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