Ignoring the Obvious
Carbon capture technology
It seems the effects of climate change are just not dramatic enough to hold the attention of politicians.
In contrast, the global economic crisis is like a burst pipe, needing the immediate attention of Joe the Plumber at exorbitant emergency call-out rates. So after years of dithering about the cost of implementing environmental policies, the governments of the developed world are suddenly finding trillions of dollars to fix our economic problems.
The environment has fallen off the radar screen as money is used to shore up a flawed financial system, or rescue obsolescent industries. For years, our corporate and political leaders have chosen to ignore the writing on the wall, and the new
patterns of behaviour emerging in the generation that will inherit our mess.
The decline in demand for North American cars is roughly paralleled by growth in car share companies and co-ops,
all of which are investing in Toyotas and Hondas. Faced with this new reality, we need to direct our dollars to reinventing rather than simply resuscitating our economy.
Ironically Alberta, not known for its enlightened environmental policies, seems to be the single holdout still intent on funding green initiatives amidst the economic chaos. The province recently confirmed it is committing $2 billion to research into carbon capture technology.
In what must be a deliberate attempt to ignore the obvious, the talk is of burying it in the ground, the same approach we’ve taken unsuccessfully in the past with toxic waste and municipal garbage. Why not just plant forests; after all haven’t they been capturing carbon elegantly and effectively for millennia?
But ignoring the obvious seems to be an intractable human trait. In this regard, the often-quoted tale of Easter Island is a salutary one. There, tribal elders ordered the felling of the last trees to carve idols for a God incapable of saving them from themselves. As a result of this misplaced faith, the soil became barren and the inhabitants perished.
But perhaps this is too cynical a position. Who knows, maybe with that kind of budget Alberta’s scientists will eventually be able to re-invent the tree!
Jim Taggart, MRAIC
Editor