On the subject of the environment, many of the best minds on the issue are calling for a war like response. Mr. Harper on the other hand prefers the misguided approach: decreasing the tax on jet fuel and diesel is his latest offering.
He is obviously playing to the numbers. The environment has fallen to a distant third as an election issue, pushed back most recently by the economy, which has been stumbling of late due to the sub-prime debacle in the United States (“Economy on minds of most voters, not the environment,” The Edmonton Journal, Sept. 22).
As a consequence, Mr. Harper assumes – and with reason – that the average voter would rather put off any meaningful action on the environment. But postponing action on the environment because of the economy is like postponing fundamental repairs to a house because the SUV needs a tune up.
We need to reconsider the environment. This issue, too, threatens to blow up in our face, and if it does it’ll make the sub-prime mess look like an air bubble.
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