The next time you hear Rona Ambrose call her zombie party the new/nouveau Cons, send her a message with just two words in it: Larry Miller. Because O'l Larry is still there, he couldn't be more Reform or more redneck. He's still the "Keeper of the Flame" (more on that later.) And he's just made a beast out of himself again.
We all know that Leona Aglukkaq is a shameless climate change denier and the worst Environment Minister in Canadian history. We know that she is one of the most aggressive hecklers in the House of Commons, or one of its worst bullies. Well now she's at it again. Denying that some people in a northern community are so hungry they scavenge food from the local garbage dump. And bullying people as only a Con could.
The flowers in my forest are wilting in the heat. Today it felt like 40 degrees in the shade. It's the hottest summer I can remember.
I don't know if it has anything to do with global warming. But now I think I know what it's going to feel like.
Flooding in Pakistan. Landslides in China. Forest fires in Russia and British Columbia. Too much rain in Saskatchewan. And now the horror of hunger.
Two problems are going to converge and merge in the next 10 or 15 years with dramatic results. One is the fact that global grain production, which kept up with population growth from the 1950s to the 1990s, is no longer doing so.
The second problem is, of course, global warming. The rule of thumb is that with every one degree C rise (1.8 degrees F) in average global temperature, we lose 10 per cent of global food production. In some places, the crops will be damaged by drought; in others by much hotter temperatures. Or, as in Russia’s case today, by both.
I see that Stephen Hawking is suggesting that humans start looking for another planet.
But that won't save us. Because if we can't solve our problems on this planet, we'll only repeat them on another one.
We need to change the way we live. The way we organize society. The way we decide our priorities. Capitalism as we know it has reached the end of the line. We need to come up with something better.
Some of us tried to get that message out peacefully at the G20 summit. And you know what happened.
But they can't hold us back forever. The younger generations won't stand for old solutions to new problems.
The greasy oil pimps, the corrupt politicians, those who profit from the misery of others, the greedy grubbers who are torching the world, should understand one thing.
Or we save this planet and make it a better place for everyone.
