I just returned last night from three days of training in Chicago by Al Gore for the Climate Reality project. In traveling there (car pooling in a Prius), it was interesting to see how low gas prices are in the US (90 cents/litre) compared to Canada ($1.30/litre) and Europe (approx. $4.00/litre).
I think that if there really was a greater demand for oil and gas in the US and Canada, as our Prime Minister would have us believe, the price of gasoline would be higher. Economics 101 says that greater demand drives prices up. Therefore, if there was a greater need for oil and gas, then the price at the pump would reflect that demand, but it doesn't.
At the same time, I have learned that the climate crisis is far worse than Canadians realize. Because it's not in our face as much as it in other parts of the world, it really hasn’t hit home yet. But, for those areas that have been hit hard, like in New Jersey and New York from Hurricane Sandy, the reality of the situation is starting to become clear. For example, a number of insurance companies lost money last year due to climate change related claims. The fact that some areas may become uninsurable as a result of reoccurring climate related events like floods and droughts poses a serious long term threat to these communities because if they can’t get insurance, they can’t rebuild.
I’m not convinced the oil is going to run through pipelines. Pipelines are just as risky as rail or more so after the new Canadian rail safety measures are implemented.
Another thing I learned this week: oil and gas companies are being subsidized trillions of dollars each year by governments around the world. Companies that make billions of dollars each year and who have a virtual monopoly on the global energy sector. If only a faction of that money were redirected to the research and development of green energy solutions and more efficient technology, a better balance could be achieved in a relatively short period of time. As I like to say about difficult challenges, ‘if there is a will, there is a way’.
Unfortunately, the lack of action by governments around the world is starting to show. Climate scientists believe that every climate event, i.e. weather systems, will get more extreme, whether it's a cold snap in the middle of summer like last week, or a record setting heat wave as the US experienced during the first two weeks of July.
As a new volunteer in Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership corps, I will be presenting the former US Vice President’s most recent information on the climate crisis. Anyone interested in hearing what climate scientists now know about how this global crisis is evolving can contact me at jogrady66@gmail.com.
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