Sukuki Slyly Slithers Sideways

David Suzuki, noticeably absent from the Cancun climate confab, has surfaced today with this Torstar piece. He opens thusly:

In a recent article on CBC’s website, political commentator Scott Reid wrote that I don’t “give a damn” about the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico.

Reid, who was former prime minister Paul Martin’s communications director, is correct that I was “fed up and had little time for Cancun, assuming the political will to respond to the pressing threat of climate change at this forum was all but nil.”

So Dr. Suzuki is "fed up" and has "little time" for climate conferences when he recognizes the political winds are not blowing his way. But isn't Global Warming/Climate Change/Global Climate Disruption the most important issue of our time?

But there’s nothing that concerns me more than the threat of climate change and the necessity of world leaders to deal with the crisis. I’ve just seen the futility of trying to get our current government to act in any meaningful way at the UN talks, and I agree with David Suzuki Foundation staff that our efforts are better placed elsewhere.

So it is the most important issue of our time but you and the staff at your foundation have chosen to concentrate your efforts elsewhere? Define elsewhere. Of course Dr. Suzuki never clearly defines "elsewhere" but what he does say gives a clue.

In Canada, though, we can accomplish more by working with municipal and provincial governments, and with thousands of concerned citizens, than trying to get the federal government to act on global warming. Our work around clean-energy solutions and other ways to resolve climate issues — and help steer Canada toward the emerging clean-energy economy — is more in line with initiatives such as Ontario’s plan to phase out coal power and create incentives to attract clean-energy technologies, B.C.’s implementation of a carbon tax that increases over time, and the City of Vancouver’s bold Greenest City initiative.

Of course, that’s not enough to confront a global problem like climate change, but if leadership is lacking at the top, we must build from the ground up.

I do give a damn about the UN climate talks. I only wish our government did.

Never mind, Carry on.

Syncro