Do you ever wonder how it felt to be a post-war German, having to explain to your children how "you" could have let the holocaust happen? I'm afraid we North Americans are going to find out, first hand.
Too strong an analogy? Well, that depends on what you believe about the causes and potential impact of climate change. The apparent scientific consensus suggests that inaction on climate change will be tantamount to genocide, with entire island nations set to disappear under the waves, to name only one predicted effect. Is there uncertainty about that? Well, some people seem to think so. Was there uncertainty about what Hitler was doing? Absolutely. We actually have much better advance insights into what greenhouse gase (GHG) emissions are doing than we ever had about the Nazi program. The holocaust was only clear in hindsight, and even now has its fringe deniers. In hindsight, later this century, I suspect we're not going to look one iota better than the post-war Germans did in the mid-twentieth century.
I know everybody and his dog attacked Elizabeth May for making a similar analogy, but I fail to find any substance to the criticisms. The analogy is a perfectly good one, from a rational-logical point of view.
This rather depressing meditation is sparked by Canada's and the US' abysmal performance in Bali. Canada, the US, and Japan are clearly today's global "bad guys", attempting to block progress on a further climate-change agreement. You can't have missed this in the news, but if you want some references, here are a few sites to visit:
The Globe and Mail Dec 12 "Canada killing European effort to cut emissions"
The Globe and Mail Dec 11 "Canada facing wave of climate criticism"
TheStar.com - CP video Dec 10 "Canada assailed at Bali climate talks"
TheStar.com Dec 2 "Climate change critics fear Canada's Influence"
TheStar.com Dec 12 Letters to the editor
David Suzuki Foundation - Bali Blog
Avaaz.org
Climate Action Network (Issue 8, Page 2 is a good starting place.)
Stop Climate Chaos Coalition - Canada
Greenpeace Climate Weblog
Sierra Club
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