SDA reader, David, provided a link to a very interesting article. Even though the Vancouver School Board has an $8.4-million funding shortfall, they have to buy $405,725 worth of carbon offsets as per provincial government legislation instituted by BC’s last premier, Gordon Campbell.
Lest anyone forget, the Greens among us have frequently said that “going green” won’t cost us anything. Well, in this case 5 teachers are going to lose their jobs in order to pay for these absolutely ridiculous carbon offsets.
The arrangement with the provincial government will see the money going to Encana, a billion dollar drilling company.
No Green evangelist can condemn this because it’s exactly what they’ve been pushing for all of these years! And Campbell bought into it hook, line, & sinker. He’s now gone but the powers at be will be scared to ever change things for fear of getting demonized by the Green Lobby. What would be beyond sweet would be to see both parents of school children and the BC Teacher’s Federation publicly condemning the Greenies!
Related: The founder of Encana is closely affiliated with BC’s current premier, Christy Clark. And make no mistake, if when the NDP ever gets back in power in this province, it’ll be the same or worse.
Update: BC Hospitals are not immune either. (h/t pkuster)
I’m having a hard time with this one … I don’t know who I despise more … teachers or Greenies. They are pretty much the same gang. Shooting themselves in the foot.
Lefties are walking contradictions.
LOL! Where’s an asteroid when you need one….
Abe, it’s important to remember that while official Leftdom very much supports all sorts of Green taxes, many average Lefties do not.
When these carbon offsets become a crisis (and they will next year when all municipalities have to buy them too) then there’s going to be a bit of a civil war within the BC NDP, trying to decide what to do.
I sense that Christy Clark won’t budge on this so perhaps 2012 will signal a golden opportunity for a new conservative party to emerge with a slogan like, “We don’t believe that saving the world begins with more unemployment of our citizens.”
Ahhh……carbon tax. Every politicians wet dream. A tax on absolutely nothing and the granola crunching, foam at the mouth tree huggers want to raise it higher yet to save the planet. It just does’nt get any better than this. Proof positive that the inmates are running the asylum.
There are few things that enrage me more than the BC government falling for CAGW; it may be they don’t believe in it themselves but just can’t resist the ability to grab more money from people.
What needs to be done is for someone to challenge them in court to prove the scientific validity of the carbon taxes. Someone like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation might be interested in doing so. I’ve let the provincial Lieberals know that I’ll never vote for them and right now the only party with a reasonable platform in BC is the Marijuana Party. (That tells you everything you need to know about BC politics).
Maybe it’s time to increase the pressure a few notches by letting my patients know that I might be leaving for Alberta or the US unless something is done about CO2 taxes. I practice in an area desperately short of doctors and that will get peoples attention. While I like Alberta and spent a good chunk of my life there, it has a climate that I’m no longer that fond of having experienced life in Vancouver for a few decades.
Perhaps the most important research project to be carried out now is to find out why moonbats are attracted to warm climates. Every place that has a mild livable climate on the west coast is infested with moonbats. I like California but detest the politics. Florida is relatively moonbat free but, unless one has the ability to be able to run into the ocean at any moment to cool off, I wouldn’t really call it livable. Whoever finds a drug that will suddenly make moonbats determined to emigrate to Ellesmere island or anywhere in the arctic should win the Nobel prize IMO.
Encana’s new head office in Calgary, it’s quite nice and it changes up the skyline. … oh and “Send us your money” …
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/photos/Gallery+Rising/1023079/story.html
Gwynn Morgan (formerly Encana CEO) is the fellow that Harper wanted as his Appointments Commissioner and agreed to a salary of $1.00, but the NDP would have none of it. Pat Martin being the main objector, and one of the NDP women if I remember correctly.
Insanity. I will be amazed if the teachers bother to complain. I think it’s highly unlikely given they are the ones scaring our kids to death about the future and rewarding students for being green. No doubt some teachers don’t buy in to the green propaganda, but if it’s part of the standard curriculum, they really have no choice in the matter.
This video, despite originating in the UK, illustrates exactly how far the education system has gone to scare our children into submission. You can bet the textbooks in Canada, especially in BC, are either along the same lines or worse.
Climategate TV website has a plethora of topical videos on this lunacy. Unfortunately, attempting to watch the videos directly on the site often causes an error which forces one to double click to watch the video on the you tube site instead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d23B-R2-qw&feature=player_embedded
Insanity. I will be amazed if the teachers bother to complain. I think it’s highly unlikely given they are the ones scaring our kids to death about the future and rewarding students for being green. No doubt some teachers don’t buy in to the green propaganda, but if it’s part of the standard curriculum, they really have no choice in the matter.
This video, despite originating in the UK, illustrates exactly how far the education system has gone to scare our children into submission. You can bet the textbooks in Canada, especially in BC, are either along the same lines or worse.
Climategate TV website has a plethora of topical videos on this lunacy. Unfortunately, attempting to watch the videos directly on the site often causes an error which forces one to double click to watch the video on the you tube site instead
youtube.com/watch?v=3d23B-R2-qw&feature=player_embedded
You might also read this!!!! http://goo.gl/GXMy4 #tcot #gop #sgp #gwhoax #soros #gameon !!!!!!
Since I own shares in Encana and not in the BC Teachers Federation, I can’t say that I’m displeased. All I can say is that I hope the teachers who are fired are greenies so that they will see the law of unintended consequences in action.
Speaking of Green, I recall scientists stating that despite Greenland being named Greenland, it never was green and had always been a cold temperate region. The recent theory is that it was simply named Greenland only to get people to go there – I know, what a dumb scraping the barrel explanation that is. I laughed out loud the first time I heard it. I thought they were kidding or that it was a parody or something, but no, completely serious.
Well, it appears they have come across a snag in the Greenland forever a temperate cold region with the new discovery of a giant ant fossil in North America. Guess what caused the giant ants? Yup – a brief period of global warming in Greenland – doesn’t sound very global to me.
ca.news.yahoo.com/fossil-giant-ant-found-north-america-211429852.html
JanN – excellent info, thanks for that.The UN must be joking – 100% of fossil fuel subsidies are proposed to be redirected to International Climate Action. So the fossil fuel companies in turn will have to charge schools and municipalities for their subsidies.
Looks like despite any and all proof to the contray these lunatics are still pushing hard to get what they want. Unadulterated theft by extortion and blackmail is what it is.
Alberta will not be happy.
BTW – the link does not copy and paste correctly. This one worked for me:
eagleforum.org/un/2011/11-05-06.html#tco#gop#sgp#gwhoax#soros#gameon
Greenland got it’s name about 1000 years ago when the temperature in the Arctic was much warmer than it is today during the Medieval Warming [950-1250]. Viking outcast Eric the Red left Iceland [ca 982] and colonized parts of Greenland which could be farmed then because of the warmer climate. Eric’s son Leif established a colony in Newfoundland ca 1000 AD. The colonies failed when it turned cold again during the Little Ice Age which followed the Medieval Warming.
Human history is full of examples where religious zealots pushed their beliefs to limit freedom of choice both politically and in the scientific community. In Medieval times for example, the scientists who wanted to be successful, obtain teaching positions, financial support, and get their work published had to be members of a consensus that adhered to the Church’s belief that the earth was the center of God’s universe. Scientists like Copernicus and later Galileo and Kepler challenged geocentric beliefs and used ALL the empirical evidence they could gather to support their theory that the sun not the earth was the center of our universe. As a result they were persecuted, ridiculed, and excommunicated. After all it was clearly obvious to everyone that the sun, moon, planets and stars all revolve around the earth as the Church dictated. The geocentric beliefs of the Church were powerful enough to influence monarchs and dictate political actions. The people were taxed and wars were fought to further those geocentric beliefs.
Perhaps it’s human nature to let beliefs override reason and broad empirical evidence, so that only the data that supports those beliefs is held as ‘true’. We like to think our modern society has advanced beyond rule by belief, but in many ways it’s still the same as it was in the Middle Ages. Papal Indulgences, an old tradition in the Catholic Church where you pay money to the Church to have your sins forgiven, are now resurrected in the form of Carbon Offsets. http://www.monbiot.com/2006/10…selling-indulgences/
In Medieval times the peasants paid 10% of what they earned in a year to the Church, today they’re called Carbon Taxes.
Some things never change, including the power of free men to resist the attempts of the Church of the day to control their lives and limit their freedom of choice.
Going green won’t cost much after we are all bankrupt from the effort.
Thankfully Jack Layton is the leader of the Official Opposition with no power even with Green Gal Lizzie hollering down a rain barrel from a far corner of the House.
Yeah, common sense on the file will prevail with the right person at the helm in a majority situation.
North of 60: In the Middle Ages, the only warming you worried about was the warming that awaited you in Dante’s Inferno if you weren’t a good boy. Yeah, times haven’t changed much.
Well, our “heros” of this last election have this to warm your thoughts:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/doc/virage-corner/2008-03/pdf/541_eng.pdf
Conservative government Green Shift. Now, tell me that it was only because they had a minority that they didn’t impose this policy. Like the Income Trust flip-flop, you think that now they have a majority they won’t implement it? No sudden changes of heart? They put the CO2 burying policy into place that you are already paying for with their minority position.
Who will stop them now?
Robert, everything was fine with your last post except the last line. It’s not “if” the NDP gets back in power in BC, it’s “when”.
We’re talking about BC, remember.
And it will be worse.
You mean they haven’t figured out yet that carbon offsets are basically a fiction and a fraud? Idiocracy rules! They are beyond help.
HAHAHAHAHAHHA…..I love it….came back from 4 months in LaLaLand just last Sat.Lived next door to a eco-nut.She had her daycare(gubbie funded),shut down because she was caught using a power mower instead of the old push mower.And this in the city that STILL pumps the shit,etc from the homes directly into the strait.Green indeed.Oh wait. You can raise chickens in Vancouver,provided you dump their shit into the water!
speaking of catholics, Im sure you know one and all they just dug up karol wojtyla as part of some bizarre blood ritual.
beliefs systems overriding evidence, well, dont have to go very far to find that.
I blame the edjukashun cystem where *moi* got beat up in grade 1 for reading ahead in those soul destroying prick and jane stories. then in grade 3 I get beat up for pretending my pencils were space rockets. so indeed some things never change. bully and browbeat the eccentric kid. punish the ones that are different. not wrong, just different.
(p.s., isn’t it the exceptional ones that drive innovation and foster progress? apparently that too has to be done the ‘politically correct’ way)
Robert W;
Wasn’t there a story a while ago about some hospital in either Vancouver or Victoria that had to suspend some services because they had racked up a “carbon” bill of $800,000.00? And by law it HAD to be paid? If I were the CEO of the hospital, I’d tell the gov’t to pound salt. The school board should do the same.
“In 2012, B.C. energy legislation”
LOL !!!
more like 2012 BC, ie 4,000 years ago.
I wonder how long THIS madness will continue (hint: you’re dealing with west coasters)
“Carbon offsets are the same as a fat man paying a skinny man to go on a diet for him.”
This is oldish news. I remember news stories from last year or earlier that pointed out that hospitals weren’t exempted from the carbon tax so millions were being taken from the sacred goddess, Healthcare, too. Google would probably find some of them if you want to add them to the list too.
Pot, meet kettle!
The teachers’ unions should be protesting but they’re so full of , Green/NDP moonbat lefties, they’ll just continue to collect their fat-cat salaries and keep quiet. Yes, teachers generally go along with the Gaia worship: most are lefty-lite, too bad for them. Any that aren’t, keep their thoughts pretty much to themselves—and do the bare minimum, e.g., encourage use of the recycling bins, re the Green Agenda.
When these carbon taxes really start to hurt, people might just wake up and push back. They might . . .
Greenland has grass in summer.
Back in the day….
“It all depends on whose ox is getting gored.”
Playing the greenies off against the teachers unions won’t work….
The teachers unions are top-down..not grassroots………. the union bureaucracy is not getting a pay cut or laid off.
Oh well, teachers, it’s under the bus you go. Did you realize that what you’ve been pushing would lead to this? A little skepticism might have helped up to this point. Or isn’t questioning the consensus in the curriculum?
I wonder how this will be explained to the kids.
Will that too be blamed on ‘climate change’?
Ping @ 8:28am – The etrm “bozo” doesn’t even begin to describe you.
And more news from the Eco-Grifters Daily News”
“Much of the investment in alternative energy is obviously what’s called “subsidy farming,” i.e. planting a little money in a project in the hopes of reaping a harvest of taxpayer-subsidized profits because, if left to market forces, green energy makes little sense”
rtr http://tinyurl.com/62lo8p4
There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
We ought to tattoo TANSTAFL on the back of their writing hands so they get a reminder every time they’re about to do something stupid.
If you want to reduce CO2, stop talking. Better still, stop breathing.
Yes, JDN, the spin in the classroom on Monday morning will be: our favorite teacher lost her job because of evil capitalism, and so forth
As a manager at a hotel/restaurant in BC a little over a year ago, I hosted a Liberal function on election night. The gentleman in question inquired as to which way I voted. I told him in that particular election I had decided not to cast my ballot as there was no conservative option.
He tried to convince me that his party was the conservative choice, and I tried to convince him that having created this BC carbon tax, even if his party was “more conservative” than the NDP, they were not conservative. I could certainly not bring myself to vote if it were to seem in support of that damnable carbon tax.
I hope they fire the science teachers stupid enough to push global warming as fact.
What clearer example does one need to demonstrate that The Greens are not interested in human wealthfare. And Elizabeth May just got elected; someone should ask her about this.
Do Not Walk On Mosquitoes.
By Order. Our Enemy, The State.
We have a “mosquito plan” for you.
…-
“Winnipeg unveils mosquito plan
CBC.ca – May 6, 2011
Winnipeg plans to spend an additional $1 million as it takes a more environmentally friendly stance in its fight against mosquitoes.”
If you thought the BC Rail deal was fishy just wait until the cap and trade and carbon offset deals are made public. You will not believe some of the stuff swirling around this town about those deals.
I agree with others here there is no choice in BC but to vote for the least left wing piece of garbage party. It makes me sick voting in BC elections. They should provide barf bags.
Yes, we are fecked in BC the next election.
For the life of me, I cannot vote for the Libs, Chrusty Clark version. She is a diehard lifelong lefty Liberal, and is continuing the Campbell policies of carbon taxes, IPPs, etc, al the while pretending to be the hockey mom next door. Pathetic.
But, if we do not vote for Premier PomPom, we get Adrian Dix and the 19th century version of the NDP, the troglodyte version. He is as hardcore as you get when it comes to NDP, and will ensure another made in BC recession.
No matter what government we get, it is either hardcore socialism (NDP), or the soft sell version (Clark)…..its not like Clark is getting ahard ride from the media either, she has Global/CORUS/CTV/CBC in her pockets (various handlers and assistants are previously and currently associated with all these networks. The corruption is palpable)
It has always seemed hypocritical to me that governments tax other government entities. What’s the point? governments don’t pay taxes, taxpayers do!
The problem is that they are too stupid to recognize their own stupidity.
Its going to take an awakening by voters to sort this all out. Like in California I don’t have alot of hope that this is going to happen any time soon.
The bar that is supposed be the level of reason and intelligence to be strived for by society ….
has been adjusted to such a low point in BC it is more likely something to be be tripped over.
This is the natural result of leftard thinking.
Christie is a media phony and is up to her knickers in goo with the BC Rail deal.
If we had a police force that was capable of investigating white collar crime in this country she would be in serious trouble.
There will never be a conservative alternative in BC.
Dan, you sooooooooooooooooo speak the truth on the reality for BC voters these days. It’s truly a hopeless situation for us!
Robert, ever read Tsakumis?
He’s got a boatload of damaging evidence against Clark, but appears that she has got the law hounds threatening him, as to what he can and cannot release regarding BCRail.
Clark is deeper than you can imagine in that fiasco. I never really gave a hoot about it much, but the more you see, the more corrupt Clark is.
Maybe we should do some strategic voting / organization. Wait until the polls start indicating a BC Liberal lead and watch the BC conservative numbers. If they hit anywhere near 20% that means some seats could go their way. I would say the seats in play for them would be the strongest federal conservative ridings. In those ridings vote BC conservative but in every other riding vote BC Liberal.
There is no conservative party in BC . . there is a rump of nutter saying they are but all they will do is split the Right Wing vote and the result will be more NDP elected.
The choice is between the lesser of two evils. Christy is a flyweight and loves her greeny crap, but the NDP would a million times worse.
Until the conservative side of the BC Liberal Party (I know a terrible name) gets control back of the party, we should have to bend over and pretend to enjoy voting for her/BCLP
Having a majority Harper government in Ottawa for four years will really help the conservative side of the BCLP limit the damage Premier Pie/Smily/Chuckle Face can do.
So vote BCLP or else we get truly f*cked-over with an NDP government.
Remember the BC NDP spawned the pond scum of Ujjal Dosanjh.
‘nuf said.
Much of the BC green initiatives are a token cover (idiot-guilt atonement) for what really drives the BC economy. Coal exports generate the highest net return (direct revenue as opposed to income, sales and other taxes) to provincial coffers. Forestry, despite being still the single largest export commodity has become a net loser, thanks to the evolved level of regulatory quagmire on Crown tenures and high-cost socially-encumbered bureaucracy. Asian-driven real estate in the lower mainland and Alberta-driven real estate in the Southeast also help mask a mentality of delusional self-indulgence. Principled conservative / libertarian political thought is an extreme rarity in BC.
In the capitalist democratic world teachers work for money, benefits and lots of holiday time … in the post capitalist green world teachers will work for food vouchers … all year long.
For some strange reason they don’t that yet. Oh wait, I know why … they are stupid.
“When Liberal dreams come true, a reign of terror begins”
“How to speak with a Climate Skeptic:Responses to the most common skeptical arguments on Global warming.”
“…Greenland was called Greenland by Erik the Red (was he red?), who was in exile and wanted to attract people to a new colony. He thought you should give a land a good name so people would want to go there! It likely was a bit warmer when he landed for the first time than it was when the last settlers starved due to a number of factors — climate change, or at least some bad weather, a major one.
But it was never lush, and their existence was always harsh and meager, especially due to the Viking’s disdain for other peoples and ways of living. They attempted to live a European lifestyle in an arctic climate, side by side with Inuit who easily outlasted them. They starved surrounded by oceans and yet never ate fish! (Note: this was not a typical European behavior, and is a bit of a mystery to this day.)”
http://www.grist.org/article/greenland-used-to-be-green