Environment minister’s climatechange folly
During a presentation to SACPA on Nov. 15, 2015, Minister Phillips made light of socalled climate change “deniers” by dismissing any and all questioning of the “real” climate change “facts.” She went on to state that “It’s not that I believe in the science of climate change, it’s that I understand the science of climate change.”
That is a very audacious, if not arrogant, claim for anyone not trained and experienced in physics disciplines such as radiative and convective heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, biology and the complex analysis needed to achieve even a basic understanding of climate change.
Now, Minister Phillips is “moving forward” to add injury to insult on the climate file. She has established a “Residential No-Charge Savings Program,” apparently intended to teach uninformed Albertans how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This will be achieved by engaging one of those green companies, Ecofitt, established to profit from the mad rush to combat climate change.
Ecofitt is responsible for employing a cadre of workers who will be invading homes, replacing incandescent with LED bulbs, providing low-flow shower heads, installing smart thermostats, and providing energy-saving power bars. A quick check of the Ecofitt website reveals their store charges roughly three time as much per LED bulb as some local big-box stores. Remember — homeowners will not be charged for this service. There is more to come. The total cost of the “Energy Efficiency Alberta” program over the coming five years is estimated to be $645 million.
Albertans who have already implemented these well-established technologies as a matter of course will thus be overpaying hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of the slow starters. The inflated costs to bring them up to speed will be covered by the carbon tax Minister Phillips rammed through last year.
Surely this continuing condescending contempt for the majority of informed Albertans will influence their choices when the next election cycle comes around. Minister Phillips may then appreciate the folly of her misplaced philanthropy with our carbon taxes.
Duane Pendergast
Energy Collegium Lethbridge