May Bitchslaps Baird over lies!

letter to the editor Halifax Chronicle Herald

Obfuscation 101

Environment Minister John Baird displays a casual disregard for the truth in his letter attacking Ralph Surette’s excellent Oct. 13 column. That Mr. Baird has the gall to accuse Ralph Surette of "distorting" the Harper government’s actions on Kyoto is a tribute to bluster over substance.

While Baird claims Canada ranks with "other Kyoto partners," this is patently false. Canada is the only nation of the 165 that signed and ratified Kyoto to have publicly repudiated its targets. Harper is the only head of a Kyoto-party national government to have put in place a plan to allow emissions to rise throughout the Kyoto first phase (2008-2012). With the election of the Harper government, Canada has become the only Kyoto nation in league with those that never ratified Kyoto (the U.S. and Australia) — pushing for fraudulent schemes while sabotaging real action.

Baird claims that his government’s target is 20 per cent reductions in greenhouse gases by 2020. He omitted to mention the all-important base year. The European Union is committed to 20 per cent reductions below 1990 levels by 2020. So far, the Harper government has committed to 20 per cent below 2006 levels (24 per cent higher than they were in 1990). Worse yet, every independent analysis of the Harper plan shows it will fail to reach even this dangerously high emission level by 2020.

These Orwellian distortions are designed to confuse the Canadian public. We are smarter than that. We need real reductions and a good faith effort to move heaven and earth to get as close as we can to our international legally binding obligations under Kyoto.

Elizabeth May, Leader,

Green Party of Canada

I find it rather annoying that Ms May has to fight these battles in the editorial pages, where the hell is the press to take her critisism and why is the press itself not calling Baird to task for his outrageous lies? Arggg,Recommend this Post