Enviro-Hysteria Accomplishes (Chicken) Little

When will civility, common sense and moderation return to the discussion of environmental issues? Extremist hijackers of the debate and the media have turned the discussion into a mud slinging ‘end times’ nuthouse shouting match.

How did the temperature of the ‘boil’ come to such a frothing point so quickly and why did we let extremists hijack the debate, framing it in apocalyptic Chicken Little ‘end of the world in ten years’ language? A tiny group of radicals have got hold of the reins and we must wrest control back from them before we go further astray. I am counting on the innate common sense of the average person to intervene and save us from the nonsense solutions of Al Gore, David Suzuki and even more extreme climate change radicals.

Are you going to take fewer showers (Gore's idea, fewer showers, can you imagine???) or ride your bicycle ten miles or more to work (in twenty degree below zero weather)??? Is everyone in the world going to junk their cars and live downtown and walk to work? So millions of us will stampede to vertical finling cabinets in cities??

Come on, the intellectually adolescent George Stromboulopoulos of CBC Newsworld's MTV-like kiddy public affairs program said this week that since Ford was already going to lose $13 billion next year they should just 'junk everything and make only hybrid vehicles.' It's not only the radicals we have to fear but sheer hysterical nonsense like that. Twelve year olds have more sense.

Most climate change scientists agree something is wrong but disagree widely on what the causes are - let alone what the solutions are - or what the timetable should be. Where is consensus on the benchmarks and yardsticks for dealing with the environmental challenges most agree are ahead?

Crashing our western economies in a 1929-style disaster will mean we are unable to develop, educate and rescue the Third World let alone our vulnerable citizens. It could mean an international disaster economic worse than 1929.

We will have neither the money nor technological expertise to deal with climate change, determine its severity and the solutions required - not to mention we won't be able to attend to and ameliorate other environmental and social issues.

Compassion yes. Attention yes. Concentrating industry, government NGO’s, science and international bodies on issues of planetary importance certainly. It is a necessity.

But throwing our entire society away and going back to the caves overnight is not the answer. Moderation, bipartisanship, common sense and a common sense of purpose, it is a moderate steady thoughtful approach to any challenge that will solve or begin to solve any problem, environmental or otherwise.

Speak up. Phone, write, call your MPP and MP's offices, let them know, let the media know we are listening, we know changes have to be made. But make it clear that the current hysterical charge of the lemmings is not the way. Common purpose, common sense. Common good.