Host a debate
Re: “PM flubs oilsands: Trudeau,” Jan. 23.
Justin Trudeau is correct that when it comes to the oilsands, “It’s an example of the fact emotions are running high around this issue.”
He is also right that, “People are concerned about the planet and people are concerned about the environment.”
The federal government should convene open hearings into the main objection environmentalists have to the project, its impact on global climate. They should invite well-qualified climate scientists from both sides of the debate, people such as B.C. MLA Andrew Weaver, who believes our emissions of carbon dioxide are causing dangerous climate change, as well as people like Tim Patterson of Carleton University, who does not. Then the government should broadly publicize the hearing results so the public would appreciate the intense debate raging among experts.
The government is too politically correct to speak out against the climate scare. But all they need do is set the stage so the public can hear the views of sci- entists from both sides. Weaver and his allies are in the press frequently, so giving them another platform would make little difference. But giving a prominent platform to experts such as Patterson would help the public appreciate that, while hydrocarbon fuel development is known to be of crucial economic importance to Canada, the main objections to these projects are fraught with uncertainty and controversy.
Tom Harris, Ottawa Tom Harris is executive director of the International Climate Science
Coalition.