Entries Tagged 'Developing Nations' ↓

Oil has been discovered in the waters around the Falklands. This has revived the decades-old conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom, both of which claim the islands – and this time the rest of Latin America is united behind Argentina. Will we see the developed world unite behind England?

Given the realities of peak oil, finding more is a good thing. However, as oil becomes more and more precious as the supply dwindles – and as foolish Western governments have failed to prepare – the potential for conflict becomes very high indeed. The United States has a massive military presence in the Middle East to protect its “national interests” there, and the United Kingdom is likely to take the same view of any oil discovered anywhere they can make any sort of claim to.

In the first Falklands War, the U.K. handily prevailed, although not without some losses. This time, Argentina has the pledged support of many Latin nations, including Brazil, a heavyweight contender. The supply line from the U.K. to the Falklands is very long indeed, and the British would need a continuous and very costly naval presence to keep any oil flowing from the Falklands to the U.K.

If Britain were to attempt to secure the Falklands by force and drain them dry of oil – a very long straw – this could easily unite Latin America against Britain and her allies. As a Canadian, it is entirely possible that our ‘conservative’ Prime Minister, who would have sent Canadian troops into Iraq had he been in power, or the main opposition leader, who would also have put Canadians in Iraq, would support Britain. This would be disastrous for Canada and for the developed world. Continue reading →

Many of us realise the nature of the threat posed by climate change, peak oil, peak everything else, fisheries collapse, ocean acidification, desertification…the list is getting longer, especially recently.¹ Even if you don’t know about all of these dangers, you know enough about one or two to know that one or two is enough to do us in. Yet many people still live lifestyles they know to be wildly unsustainable, even actively harmful. Why?

This is not the place for a detailed discussion of each of the threats previously mentioned. I am going to assume that, if you are reading this, you accept that we face at least one very severe threat that will cause great harm. There will be damage to individual and social prosperity, the economy at large, health, our standard of living, and so on. If unchecked, it has the potential to set civilisation and population back considerably. There may be differences over timeline, level of awareness, beliefs about our ability to adapt, and so forth, but we all accept that we face a severe threat. There are millions of people who accept this about climate change and/or peak oil, and/or other environmental concerns and/or etc.

And yet you still drive?

I still drive. I am very aware of the extent of many of these dangers, and how driving is contributing to making them worse. I know carbon emitted by me² indirectly contributed to the drying up of Lake Chad, which resulted in millions being driven from their lands into other, already crowded lands…and a genocide ensued. I know that any carbon emitted by me is contributing to sea level rise that will drown parts of Delta, BC, just across from my home of Victoria.

And yet I still drive, and so do many millions of ‘ecoaware’ people. How can I live with myself? Continue reading →

REUTRES – In retaliation for Canada sabotaging the climate talks at Copenhagen, the G77 group of nations has announced they will boycott the upcoming Olympic Games in Canada. Said the Indian Prime Minister, “While the Olympic Games have great value in many ways, there is no point spending millions of dollars on sport when we have millions of climate refugees to relocate in the upcoming years.”

The pullout is a major embarrassment to Canada, and certainly means that the Olympics will be a financial disaster. Prime Minister Harper could not be reached for comment, and… Continue reading →

It is all of these. For the developing countries:

Copenhagen is like finally admitting to yourself that someone you thought was a good friend has been stealing from you. For years. Lying to your face the whole time. And with no intention of going honest any time soon.

Copenhagen is like finally admitting to yourself that this person is not your friend, probably never was, and doesn’t really even know what it means to be a friend.

Copenhagen is the realisation that leadership will not come from the rich countries. Canada and the United States will not do the right and honourable thing. We will not even do what is sensible to save ourselves.

Copenhagen means you must defend yourselves from us. We’ll still be dumping greenhouse gases while you are struggling with millions of climate refugees, with flooded cities and ruined farmland, with economic and social disaster. Not our problem.

These are the harsh truths of Copenhagen: You must lead and you must protect yourselves from us. We are not your friend.

You should go after Rex Tillerson and Stephen Harper for crimes against humanity. Tillerson because his company has funded climate denial for years, and Harper because he stabbed you in the back at Copenhagen and Bali; their actions will cost you dearly.