“But in the North, there really are no alternatives for us in Nunavut to turn to, to get away from diesel generation for power and for heat,” he said.
Okay. Fair enough, but isn't the point here to get people to find better ways to do things? We know that as long as people have an "easy" answer, they won't look for more innovative solutions - and the "can't do nothin', it'll hurt" line has been coming from the right wing for years - based largely on fear.
A little digging about turns up that Premier Fentie leads the Yukon Party - which is (surprise, surprise) - "conservative" in its leanings. Premier Okalik has no official party affiliation, but I have to imagine that he is being influenced heavily by Fentie on this one.
Regardless, for years, it has been the residents of the Arctic regions that have been sounding the alarm over climate change. Now, someone starts proposing ways to nudge things in the right direction, and the first thing out is "not what we wanted"?
“We see instead a more productive or sensible solution to combatting the impact of climate change, such as making strategic investment in alternative energy sources such as hydro electricity, wind power and bio-mass.”
Well, boys. You're in charge up there. Start investing. It's pretty simple - come up with alternatives and make them happen. The sooner you do, the sooner that a 'carbon tax' model becomes a moot point.
Ironically, if they had been paying attention, they would have noticed that a big part of the Green Shift model Dion is proposing in fact directs resources heavily into additional technology research and development to overcome precisely the challenges that the Canada's Arctic faces.
I don't want to be overly dismissive of the challenges that living in Canada's Arctic presents - but if we are going to move things forward, all Canadians need to take some ownership - it's far too easy to point the finger at "somebody else" and insist that they carry your burden.
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