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DESCRIPTION:Winter 2019 Mallory Lecture \n\nCANADA’S CLIMATE IMPASSE: A WAY
  FORWARD\n	Hewers of wood\, drawers of water and emitters of...hot air?\n\n
 Canadians consistently state that environmental issues\, including action 
 on climate change\, are a priority for them. Canadian governments consiste
 ntly fail to meet our international obligations to reduce greenhouse gas e
 missions\, despite that expressed support. Do Canadians believe\, in their
  heart of hearts\, that our natural resources are the foundation of our ec
 onomy and that limiting their extraction could curb our standard of living
 ? Have they bought into the argument that a price on carbon is a « tax on 
 everything »\, dooming any serious effort to reduce fossil fuel use in Can
 ada?\n\nAll recent Canadian governments knew about the urgent need to prio
 ritize the climate\, and probably shared some of that anxiety. However\, w
 hile they took very different paths\, all arrived at the same result: incr
 eased GHG production in Canada. Did Stephen Harper really believe that Kyo
 to was a « socialist plot »? When Justin Trudeau proclaimed « Canada is ba
 ck » at the Paris climate conference\, how could Canadians know that he wa
 s back with Stephen Harper's plan\, targets and timeline? Does Maxime Bern
 ier really believe that CO2 is just plant food and therefore cannot be con
 sidered pollution? Why is the NDP opposed to oil pipelines as a matter of 
 principle but in favour of gas pipelines? Some provinces have shown seriou
 s determination to act but those efforts are easily turned back by a chang
 e of government\, as was recently seen in Ontario. From the Green Shift to
  Canada’s withdrawal from Kyoto\, we’ve faced promises\, smiles and scowls
 \, but little has changed. We are still world-class bluffers and laggards 
 when it comes to actually dealing with climate change.\n\nThis is less abo
 ut left versus right than it is about what works and what doesn’t work. It
  makes no objective sense to claim that in order to have a plan to reduce 
 GHG’s in Canada\, we have to build a larger Kinder Morgan pipeline\, yet t
 hat is what the Federal and Alberta Governments continue to pretend. It ju
 st doesn’t work. 2030 is just around the corner and non-partisan sources\,
  such as Canada’s Commissioner for Environment and Sustainable Development
 \, are clear that we currently have no plan to allow us to meet our target
 s. The numbers from oil and gas continue to bedevil even the most ardent. 
 Yet\, there is still lots of low-hanging fruit. Canada has millions of hou
 ses and larger buildings heated with oil and natural gas. As electricity s
 ources green-up\, a massive retrofit program\, such as the one proposed by
  Montreal mayor Valerie Plante\, could easily cut across partisan and juri
 sdictional lines. Electrification of transport is also right on the horizo
 n and only needs a concerted push to be taken to the next level. There are
  new ideas as well\, that could help with the necessary paradigm shift. Tw
 o journeymen U.S. politicians\, Republicans James Baker and George Shultz 
 have a detailed proposal for a carbon tax with rebates that deserves a ser
 ious look. As U.S. oil and gas companies face lawsuits from New York City 
 and California - which will make the tobacco settlements pale in compariso
 n-\, it’s understandable why there is sudden pressure in the boardroom to 
 do the right thing.\n\nOver the last year a series of alarming reports\, f
 rom the IPCC\, from the WWF\, from the COP25 in Poland have attracted atte
 ntion and convinced more and more people that the world is facing a real c
 risis. Physical pollution from pesticides and industry that launched the m
 odern environmental movement in the sixties was visible\, palpable. The pu
 blic knew it was real. Climate change has been trickier but tragically\, t
 here is no more denying increased forest fires\, drought\, famine and floo
 ding. It’s real and we owe it to ourselves and to God’s creation to act. I
 n Canada\, most discussion to date has been about means and not about resu
 lts. Starting with the obligation of result\, mandated by our internationa
 l agreements\, is there a credible way forward or will we keep blowing hot
  air? It really depends on what type of world we want to leave to our kids
 . Ask them.\n\nDate: Wednesday\, April 3\, 5PM - 7PM \n\nLocation: 91ºÚÁÏÍø 
 Faculty Club (3450 McTavish)\, Ballroom\n\nRSVP to secure your spot by ema
 iling us at misc.iecm [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Winter%202019%20Eakin%20Lec
 ture%20RSVP)  or signing up via Eventbrite.\n
DTSTART:20190403T210000Z
DTEND:20190403T230000Z
LOCATION:3450 McTavish St\, Faculty Club\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\, H3A 0E5\, 3
 450 rue McTavish
SUMMARY:Winter 2019 Mallory Lecture 
URL:/misc/channels/event/winter-2019-mallory-lecture-2
 95545
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