Yesterday, it came out that the Conservatives were talking about axing most of Environment Canada's budgeted programs for dealing with Greenhouse Gases. Today, we get Prime Minister Harper trying to deny this plan. Jeepers - this guy lies almost as ineptly as President Bush.
However, that isn't what got my dander up. Lurking down on the "Arts" section of CBC's News site, is this little gem in which Environment Minister Rona Ambrose is getting her knickers in a knot over a piece of science fiction written by an Environment Canada scientist.
She had her department order this scientist not to appear at a talk about his novel. Why? Ostensibly, the excuse for squelching the speech is:
A spokesperson for Ambrose said the speech was billed as coming from an Environment Canada scientist and even though his book is a work of fiction, he would appear to be speaking in an official capacity.
Uh huh. Sure. Not surprisingly, the author's book just happens to be set in a "not too distant" future where global warming has gone quite awry. Remember, the CPC has long argued that Kyoto is impossible, and in general seems to love echoing the anti-science, anti-intellectual line of the BushCo White House in the United States.
No, this isn't because he would be "talking in an official capacity" - that's weasel words. It's nothing more than blatant censorship being exercised with a ridiculously heavy hand. For crying out loud, it's book of fiction. The fact that the author happens to be a climate scientist merely means that his "speculations" as to where global warming could lead might have a little more validity than what Tom Clancy would come up with.
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