Ottawa Sun article on Suzuki March 7

"Suzuki: Mean and not so green"

By LICIA CORBELLA

Many years ago -- about 20 -- I was a green reporter (in every sense of the word) and was assigned to cover an event for my Vancouver newspaper in the Stein Valley of B.C.'s coast mountains.

The gala in that pristine alpine meadow included performances by the likes of Long John Baldry and John Denver.

Besides the incredible view, my most vivid memories were that Denver was kind and accessible, Baldry was as zany as you would expect; and David Suzuki was surprisingly rude.

I approached Suzuki to get a quick quote about the importance of saving this wilderness from logging.

He was curt. "Not now," he said. Silly me, but I took that to mean later. So, a little later and a lot more sheepishly, I approached the renowned environmentalist again and again he snapped, "not now." Shortly before I was slated to get back on the helicopter and head back to civilization to file my stories, I approached Suzuki one last time. This time he was clearer. "F--- off," he snapped.

In my column last week in which I pointed out the hypocrisy of Suzuki choosing luxury and comfort over the environment by using a "rock-star style bus" in a cross-country tour, I received hundreds of e-mails -- most agreeing with me but many others echoed their eco hero with the same expletive!

I was also accused of being an "earth hater," "bad mother," and "mouth-piece for big oil" simply for pointing out Suzuki and Al Gore don't walk their talk.

In an effort to save time and emissions by being able to turn off my computer sooner, here's my response to those e-mail writing critics.

Firstly, not believing in the unproven hypothesis that humans are the cause of warming doesn't mean I don't care about the Earth.

I love this planet, always will, but unlike Suzuki and Gore, I don't believe humans are the drivers of climate change and I have interviewed many climate scientists whose peer-reviewed reports back that up.

What's more, I am 99% certain that I have a smaller carbon footprint than Suzuki. My only home is much smaller than his beach-front mansion in Vancouver. I know that because as a teen and young adult, my friends and I used to party on said beach and sometimes saw Suzuki wander about in his yard.

During an editorial board meeting here in Calgary several years ago, I mentioned to Suzuki I used to see him at his huge home and he asked "which house?" He's got more than one!

PAY A LITTLE EXTRA

Like him, I pay a little bit extra for power generated by renewable energy -- in my case, wind power.

I have relatively new energy efficient appliances and use compact fluorescent bulbs. I recycle virtually everything that comes into my home and have done so long before recycling was a "program." Here in Calgary, where there is still no curbside collection, we drive our recyclables to a nearby depot weekly.

My family composts year round, always has and donates money to wilderness preservation.

As for Suzuki, after arriving in Victoria following his 30-day tour on the diesel-spewing bus too big for his needs, he flew to Ottawa for a press conference.

In these days of live satellite digital communication, is that really necessary or environmentally sound?

I tried to find out from his foundation whether he flew commercial or on a private jet. My repeated calls over two days have not been returned. In their own more polite way, Suzuki's loyal staff were telling me to f- off!

That's okay. But they should know when it comes to our love of the environment, we're not that different. I just have better manners.