Premier Kermit
goes to Copenhagen

Even though I think British Columbia is a beautiful and blessed corner of the earth, I've always felt that the BC liaR's motto "The Best Place on Earth," was arrogant and not the best way to encourage people from say Tahiti, Hawaii or even Ireland to visit as they may not think BC better than their own home, no matter how nice it may be. But then for Lord Gordon Campbell and his sychophants in the BC Liberal Party, arrogance is a pre-requisite for being in caucus. But BC is a better place than usual today, for Premier "Kermit" Campbell the greenest guy on God's green earth after Arnie the Governator, is away to share with the world his secrets to a green future at the Copenhagen Conference. The bad news is that he will be coming back. Too bad we can't turn him away at the border for his criminal record in the USA!

I heard Doctor Andrew Weaver on the radio say the Gordo could hold his head up high, and I for a moment thought he meant so that the noose could be slipped over ala Saddam Hussein's last moments. But alas, Dr. Weaver meant that Gord could be proud of his progressive green policies and show them Europeans and the rest of the world how it is really done. So lets examine Greenwash Gord the saviour of the environment, so we can understand why we should all be so grateful to him for saving the planet.

Let's see, the only thing I can think of, and the one that somehow even fooled enviro-bimbo Tzeporah, Nature of Things guru David Suzuki and others, was his imposition of a carbon tax on everyday British Columbians. Of course the biggest polluters get exemptions or rebates while even carbon tax supporter Marc Jaccard stated that the tax would have to be 25 times higher to serve its intended purpose of changing people's behaviour. And since the imposition of the tax, more cars are driving more miles on BC roads than before the tax was imposed. Of course due to other factors the price of gas at the pump is about half what it was when the tax was first announced.

The whole idea of using a tax to encourage desirable behaviour is fine with me, though many conservative types just see it as income re-distribution (not letting the rich have it all). The fact is though for the bulk of British Columbia, except for the Lower Vainland and Southern Vancouver Island, people HAVE NO CHOICES. Well, I take that back, the logger (the last one) north of Prince George somewhere could decide to NOT GO TO WORK, and just STAY HOME and FREEZE IN THE DARK! Our logger, or even our pharmacist outside of the Lower Vainland with its transit system, has no way to get to work (or in the logger's case, do his work) than by using gasoline or diesel fuel. Then even if he stays at home, if he wants light on a winter's night or any heat other than by wood (cut and hauled with the help of carbon taxed fuels) ching-ching goes the carbon tax machine.

I don't live in the extreme boonies, but my "public transit" options consist of twice a week I can trade about 4 hours of bus time for slightly more hours in the middle of the day in Nelson, Castlegar or Trail (or slightly less if the bus is running late due to weather or many pick-ups off route for disabled folks). Then once a week I can spend about six hours in Nakusp. To get anywhere else at any other time I have no option but driving a private vehicle, walking or hitch-hiking.

So as far as I can see, the Carbon Tax is just another tax grab from the middle and lower-classes, disguised as some sort of progressive environmental policy - Tzeporah, Suzuki and the others should be embarrassed for falling for Capo Gordo's flim flam routine!

So lets examine some other magnificent GREEN policies of the man who deigns to make a gigantic carbon footprint to fly him (and his mistress most likely) to Denmark to tell the world how to save the planet!

1. His government has promoted a huge transportation policy focused on more lanes and bridges to accomodate more cars with the Golden Ears Bridge, 10 lane Port Mann Bridge, the Sea to Sky Highway and the assault on Burns Bog for the Deltaport project (to feed cargo ships which are themselves an enviromental nightmare)

2. Continued pressure to allow Oil Tankers on the BC Coast, so we too can maybe have our own Exxon Valdez - we probably wouldn't even know about it either until the US Coast Guard told us, as happened recently with a near spill off of Mayne Island - BC liaR Environment Minister Barry Penner was too busy being awesome to notice.

3. Consistent refusal to hold fish farms accountable for destroying natural Pacific Salmon - not to mention that each pound of farmed salmon requires MANY pounds of ground up wild fish to produce - all around about as efficient a process in real terms as the Goo Pits of Northern Alberta.

4. Speaking of the Tar Pits - Gordo the Green does everything possible to enable and assist in the largest and dirtiest and most in-efficient project in the history of human activity, by promoting the Enbridge pipeline to transport goo to Prince Rupert or clean natural gas to the Pits to use twice as much clean energy to produce dirty energy and money for certain folks.

5. Promoting Coal Bed Methane Extraction in the Flathead Valley

6. Removing square miles of formerly Forest Reserve for the profit of Gordo's original tribe - the Real Estate Speculators/Developers.

7. Promoting the bad business both financially and environmentally Rape of the River projects for the benefit of General Electric and other mostly non-BC based corporate piggies.

8. Gutting of environmental standards and staff at the ministry of the environment.

9. Gutting of staff for Parks and Game management.

10. Even the sale of BC Rail has had negative effects environmentally because of worse service for producers in the north who now need to ship by truck, and by not upgrading the track from North Vancouver to Whistler - a much more GREEN solution to getting people to the Owelympic events than the millions spent on the Sea to Die to take 15-20 minutes off the trip for a BMW. This is without even thinking about the bluffs that Betty K and her first nations friend Harriet went to jail trying to protect - ultimately costing Harriet her life.

11. A policy supporting the extraction and shipment to China of enough dirty coal to emit gases equivalent to the amount generated by powering over thirty times the number of home in Canada or keeping 15,000,000 cars on the road for a year. And according to his sychophant Kevin Kruger, the more coal to China the better. By the way, already 30-40% or more of the particulate matter in the smog over Los Angeles has been sent back from China, probably partly from our coal - maybe we can get some back too, or maybe we already do, but our gutted environmental ministries (fed and provincial) probably don't have the staff or equipment to measure it!

I could continue, maybe all day, but that is some of the high points, I've gotta go do some stuff that will involve paying some carbon tax - but I'm helping the environment, eh? And I have to admit, there is a lack of a bad smell in the air, that is usually there, oh yeah, Gordo's gone!

Yep, that Gordo, he's certainly a greenie - more like the greenies I find in my nose!