Oil is more important than climate for Canada?

[auroraglacialis]

I mean - sure, they seem to be on the winning side if some of the predictions are right - boreal forests may turn into agricultural landscapes, the ice will go away in the north and possibly access to resources will be free, tar sands mining also looks promising for the economic wealth and even James Lovelock suggests to better buy property in Canada now as long as the rest of the world is still inhabitable - long term price boom is to be expected once the rest of the world starts cooking.

But do they have to do it THAT obvious?
Harper government ends funding to climate research organization

The budget crunch at the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences comes on the heels of revelations that the government is leasing out the Amundsen, a coast guard icebreaker equipped to monitor climate change in the North, to a pair of fossil-fuel companies for oil exploration in the region.

This is why I don't think there will be any significant change in politics before it is way too late! Some company waves with a bunch of money and the gates of reserach facilities are shut down and the equipment is given to BP to make the things happen, the researchers warned about.

[Woodsprite]

As much as I'd love to understand... I read over your wording twice and I still have no idea what this is about. Are we talking about oil drilling? or... climate research of some kind? I can't really... tell what subject we're on, here.

[Isard]

Canada lent a cutter to an oil company for prospecting to raise badly needed funds. The US should do that. We need money even more than Canada does.

[Human No More]

As others have said before, revolution. People won't change by themselves and the world is badly in need of one for other reasons too.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Human No More

As others have said before, revolution. People won't change by themselves and the world is badly in need of one for other reasons too.

Or perhaps a world war 3 without nuclear weapons, similar to Star Trek. Something good came out of that eventually.

[auroraglacialis]

Originally Posted by Woodsprite

As much as I'd love to understand... I read over your wording twice and I still have no idea what this is about. Are we talking about oil drilling? or... climate research of some kind? I can't really... tell what subject we're on, here.

Sorry if that was confusing. Probably took too much previous knowledge for granted ...

There is a research institute in Canada, funded with >100 mil $ . They did research on climate change and for that used a research vessel to take measurements and samples in the arctic. One of the results (not of that institute specifically but climate research in general) is, that while most parts of the world will suffer a lot from climate change, the tropics might be better in dealing with it and the northern latitudes could actually partly profit from it, as agriculture would be feasible in the areas that are now boreal forests (warmer climate, longer summers).

Now Canada bascially stopped funding for that research institute and the research vessel that is now no longer needed for that purpose is rented to BP and another oil company for their own research, to get some money for the state. The research, the oil companies do is of course related to oil drilling and oil production in the waters of the northern atlantic and arctic. The article did not specify, what kind of research exactly (most likely a combination or prospecting, feasability studies and impact studies of future oil drilling).

The point is: They close down a climate research institute and then use the research vessel that this institute used to support the oil industry, which basically does the opposite of caring for the climate. That is a bit like closing wildlife research for a forest and open the area for tar sands mining.
So they prioritize earning some money by supporting oil companies and renting them the ship over the research of the impact of continuing CO2 emission. They just shifted their priorities to almost the opposite - that is what really makes me angry.

It is like in Germany where people have fought for years to get away from nuclear power until there was a governmental democratic agreement, that they have to be shut down within a couple of years. Then the government changes and they just scrap that and let the plants run for many more years (despite the people in the country not really beeing supportive of that - only 44% would agree, many of them only reluctantly). Representative Democracy is a fraud and economics dominated politics runs in a direction that is creating a dying world.

[Human No More]

Only 44% agree - how many actually disagree? There is always huge 'don't know/care' section. 44% is a LOT to express an opinion one way or another in politics. I'd much rather have that than the use of gas or oil.

[Advent]

Originally Posted by The Illusive Man

Or perhaps a world war 3 without nuclear weapons, similar to Star Trek. Something good came out of that eventually.

Don't worry, WWIII should come in another decade or so. Especially with many other countries engaging in war games over China's increasing military.

It's not good that Canada isn't working on their environmental research, but I can kinda sympathize with them. You can't exactly conduct research if you don't have enough money. Basic economics.

[auroraglacialis]

Originally Posted by Human No More

Only 44% agree - how many actually disagree? There is always huge 'don't know/care' section. 44% is a LOT to express an opinion one way or another in politics. I'd much rather have that than the use of gas or oil.

Umfrage: Deutsche wollen Atommeiler schneller abschalten - Nachrichten Politik - Deutschland - WELT ONLINE

The original plan made by the green-red government some years ago was to turn them off in 2022. The idea now it to prolong this by 15 years.

44% agree on the prolongation
48% oppose the prolongation
77% oppose a prolongoation of more than 10 years
47% believe, that such a prolongation will actually harm the development and installation of renewable energies
58% would voluntarily pay 10% more money for electricity if it comes from renewable energies