I’m hearing a lot of whining about high energy costs from so called environmentalists. Gee I wonder why that is? Oil and gas heating bills are higher they say, as well as electricity. Gassing up at the pumps has never been this expensive.
You hear them say, “if we would be all green none of this would happen.” What a simplistic comment mired in ignorance. The answer is this. We need only look at Germany. In the name of “saving the planet” it recently celebrated the closing of all its coal mines, shut down its nuclear plants, and decided to rely on Russia for its heating and energy supplies. Not in Canada you say? Even though Canada can be self-sufficient in energy, we have also chosen to rely on others to stoke our furnaces and fill our tanks, like Germany and other European countries. Half of the oil (heating and gas) consumed by us in Québec and the Maritimes comes from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. Some refined products originating in Russia, apparently scheduled to stop. We are handing over cash to ruthless, evil, and barbaric thugs. Why? Because we have not been able to get past foreign funded enviro warriors and some Canadian natives’ groups, who are fighting against Canada, to build a proper infrastructure. We have to get our landlocked resources to everyone in this country and beyond.
In fact, if we had, we would be shipping liquified natural gas to Europe and supplying several countries, instead of allowing Russia to hold Europe hostage. Just last month, our environment minister Steven Guilbeault officially cancelled a natural gas pipeline through Québec, that would have taken LNG from the Saguenay port on the St Laurent River to Europe. If we had an east-west pipeline, we would not have to import, but would have plenty to export to Europe and any other country that does not want to be held hostage by a brutal dictator. This is happening in Canada, a country with the fourth largest reserve on the globe, with an industry that produces the most ethical and environmentally responsible oil and gas in the world. Does it all make sense? Absolutely not. There are much more important issues today than an exclusive focus on climate change. We must continue to forge ahead with expediting the deployment of solar and wind energy sources. If anything, this has taught Europe, (Germany in particular) to move concretely towards green energy. In the meantime, we had better re-think how to achieve net zero emissions without fossil fuels. Anyone who thinks they can, had better prepare for an extremely expensive and painful future, the signs of which are already here. Some regions of Canada topped 200.9 on the weekend. Premium 217.9 Very simply put, Canada needs a new energy policy and strategy.
Misinformation on media has never been so apparent and is being used as a weapon of war. Watching this unfold on Russian TV and on screens in North America, there are two completely different narratives being played out. In Russia, studio news readers say the war is actually a “special military operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.” No mention of the reckless and most dangerous bombing of a nuclear plant. And still another government TV network says that it is Ukrainian forces bombing residential areas and warehouses with ammonia, “in acts of provocation against civilians and Russian forces.” Not all Russians are buying it, thankfully. There are thousands who continue to protest in the streets of Moscow, under threat of up to 15 years of jail time. Western reporters have been forced to leave for spreading what Putin calls “misinformation.”
In the West, there is a totally different story line. Some spectacular coverage by reporters with explosions in the background, interviews with mothers and children taking cover in underground shelters, bombs shaking the ground above them. Some never-before-seen footage. The fathers have been armed and are on the front lines. Reporters and their camera crews have been stationed near the war zone and at times in it, as well as on the borders where Ukrainians have fled to adjacent countries. Except for Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He is everyone’s hero. “I need ammunition not a ride” is a phrase from the Ukrainian president that will last eternally.
It’s really spectacular viewing, and gut wrenching to see fear and hardship from hell for these victims of a needless war, with civilians shot dead while trying to flee. Are sanctions really all we have? Why did Europe renege on its decision to supply Ukraine with jet fighters, and why has it not recognized this democracy as part of NATO?
Watching this unfold, often live, the International Criminal Court is on alert for evidence. Russia is not a member, and so even if Putin were found guilty, he would have to leave the country to be arrested. This murderous devil should be deprived of living for causing chaos, destruction, and butchery. As American senator Lindsey Graham put it, perhaps there is a “Brutus in Russia who will do us all a big favour.”
That’s What I’m Thinking
Robert Vairo
robert@newsfirst.ca
