Global Warming and Politicians

By David Dawson

The other day I was having a conversation with a man in Steinbach and it appeared that he did not believe in global warming and climate change. This set me thinking. Why is it that in spite of all the evidence around us and on the news practically every day, people still won’t accept the obvious truth?

When people are in a formal situation like school or university, the teacher or professor at the front of the class gives out information and the students accept those facts as genuine truth. However it seems once out of a formal classroom situation, those same people don’t necessarily believe those same scientists and teachers. Strange isn’t it. You might argue that part of being educated is to question what you are told, and I subscribe to that. But when ten thousand scientists around the world have the facts and figures to prove beyond doubt that global warming and climate change is a major serious threat to life on planet Earth, why is it that so many people want to bury their head in the sand?

We have had WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and currently the war against terrorism. Now we have the war against global warming which is more serious than all the other wars combined. Unless we stop it, and very soon, most of the planet will be uninhabitable for us humans. Believe me. That’s your children and grandchildren. Personally I worry all the time about this, and to be honest I know I don’t do enough to reduce my environmental footprint. The fact is we are very limited on what we can do individually. We need to be pushed by government policy and government action, but that is where the problem starts and probably why we are doomed.

Consider this: what qualifications would a major multi billion dollar company require of its CEO and directors? You would think at minimum a degree in business management with many years of management experience in a variety of companies. What qualifications are required to run Canada? NONE. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can stand for election and the only qualification for being in government is that a candidate gets 50%+1 of the votes cast. (Can you imagine the CEO of the Ford Motor Company being elected to run the company by the people who live in Detroit? Ridiculous!) A Member of Parliament’s pay is good, the expenses are incredible and all refunded, and the pension is enough to never need to ever work again. What this does is make me suspect that any decision by a politician is based on whether it will lose votes and the next election, and with it all that overly generous pay, benefits and pension.

What we need are politicians that are properly qualified to run a major enterprise, in this case our home and native land, Canada. We need politicians that are prepared to make decisions that might be unpopular but are necessary for the war against global warming. Those are people who have the strength of character to put duty before self-interest. Again, duty before self-interest.