B.C. Liberals With Toes Over Surplus Line

The B.C. government has announced a $78 million budget surplus for fiscal 08-09 according to Finance Minister Colin Hansen. This is despite total revenues dropping $1.5 billion from last year. But what increased is what is really interesting:

Natural resource revenues increased, however, to $70 million, largely due to the natural gas sector. In 2008, land lease sales were going for $655 per acre in northeastern B.C., and the sale of six drilling licenses attracted bids of more than $67 million.

According to links in the Tyee, the oil and gas industry has been nurtured under the B.C. Liberal government, with royalty breaks handed out in March in order to encourage companies. At the time, B.C.’s energy minister Blair Lekstrom said:

“In these times of economic instability, it is imperative that we take action to support and encourage economic activity that will continue to provide jobs for British Columbians in B. C.’s oil-and-gas industry and its key support sectors. Expanding this already successful royalty program to $120-million in available royalty credits will improve our competitive position for attracting investment.”

I don’t want to overly criticize natural gas when it’s considered the cleanest of all the fossil fuels. Composed of mainly methane, the combustion properties of natural gas are carbon dioxide and water vapour, which is precisely the same emissions of a human being. Oil, on the other hand, has much more complex structures with a far higher ratio of carbon being released into the atmosphere. Natural gas only releases small amounts of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, low levels of CO2, CO, and other hydrocarbons. Having said that, natural gas accounts for 99% of the emissions from fuel use within Canadian homes. The energy sector was responsible for 82% Canada’s total GHG emissions in 2005, with the majority of those emissions originating from combustion sources [46%]. Transportation, i.e.: driving around in your car, accounted for 26.7%.

The infrastructure projects that assist oil and gas industries directly contribute to the growth of industry known to create carbon emissions that are believed, by many, to contribute to global climate change.

I wouldn’t have any problem with any of that, except for the fact that last summer Gordon Campbell implemented his infamous carbon tax at the pump, an inflated 2.4 cents per litre. On Dominion Day it went up to 3.6 cents per litre, and by 2012 will reach 7.2 cents per litre. According to the government, all this accomplishes, at best, is a 30% reduction in our CO2 emissions by 2020 for the province. In 2006, B.C. emitted 62.3 million tonnes of CO2 [or equivalent]. This amount is 8.6% of Canada’s total 721 Mt GHG emissions. So what we’re talking about here, to settle some facts:

A 30% reduction of 8.6% of Canada’s CO2 emissions, which represents 2.3% worldwide [2004 count]. B.C. is therefore contributing to a 0.22% of global emission reductions, or two-tenths of one percent. To accomplish this, they’re taxing B.C. drivers at a rate of 3.6 cents per litre of fuel. And while they’re taxing us this amount, they’re taking tax revenues and subsidizing and constructing infrastructure for the very same companies that are contributors to our GHG emissions.

Does that make any sense to you?

Another Day, Another Conservative Scandalette

It would seem that there is nothing worth reporting in the news of late, that the media feel the need to invent subjects of controversy. “Did Stephen Harper eat a communion wafer or pocket it” being the source of great consternation yesterday, while today it’s how the Prime Minister was “almost” late for the G8 photo-op. Again, don’t you know. Remember that last time he was almost late? Well, he did it again! He’s a serial johnny-come-lately, that Prime Minister of ours.

There were sunny smiles and laughter for the “family” photo of industrialized leaders and their poorer cousins, masking deeper divisions among the group.

In part, the laughter was prompted by the fact leaders were, once again, waiting for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to show up and take his place for the official photo prior to today’s crucial meetings on climate change.

His late arrival at the London G20 photo op in April had prompted jokes about his having been in the “loo.”

This morning, the Canadian prime minister finally arrived well after U.S. President Barack Obama jogged into his spot.

Harper’s colleagues giggled, as some in the waiting crowd called out “Harper? Harper? Where’s Harper?”

Summit host Italian Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi grinned, clasped his hands and nodded in acknowledgement of Harper’s late entrance, as other smiling leaders could be seen commenting to Harper.

God forbid a man has to take a leak, it then becomes the bane of media stories. A quick glance at google shows that almost every media outlet has picked up on this non-story. A man being “late” for a photograph. And just how long were the representatives of the most powerful countries left waiting for Mr.Harper? By the tone of the article, it must surely have been hours and hours, as sherpas and St.Bernards were no doubt dispatched to find him before some calamitous eventuality…

When the prime minister arrived, he got cheers from the dignitaries who had been waiting for him for about a minute and 40 seconds.

One minute and 40 seconds. One wonders what the dignitaries and leaders must have done to idle away the tormenting abyss of time before his return. And why 0:01:40:00? Who was out there with the stop watch? Was Tag Heuer a sponsor?

As D. Simon Jackson writes in the CBC we’re living in a state of a perpetual “gotcha mentality”. Besides, Stephen Harper didn’t miss the photo op. I thought that “close” only counted in horseshoes in hand grenades. As Sideshow Bob once famously said:

Convicted of a crime I didn’t even commit. Hah! Attempted murder? Now honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel prize for attempted chemistry? Do they?

Extra pathetic points go to the Liberal party for a cheap shot in their press release:

“Canada is nowhere to be seen on more than just another missed photo-op,” said Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae. “On the global issues that matter – climate change, Africa and the global economy – Stephen Harper is going in the wrong direction.”

Not only is it a cheap shot, it’s not even acurate. He didn’t miss the photo-op, nor was it “another” missed photo-op, since he was present for the first one when they agreed to shoot again.

Barack Channeling Bill

This is what I think every married man is tempted to do, but probably thinks better of it before the head swivel occurs. At this point there’s only implausible denial [I saw a coin on the ground], blame shifting [Nick told me to look!], or bald-faced lie [She asked me a question on the way by]. And of course Nicholas Sarkozy’s look is priceless.

Although it’s harmless, I doubt that Barack Obama will illicit the kind of revulsion that many bloggers felt when George W Bush was spotted getting friendly with the American women’s beach volleyball team. It’s that whole Republican-Democrat sexual double standard. You know, the one where Bill Clinton’s womanizing was just an example of his strong manly appetites, while Sarah Palin is a bimbo because… she’s a Republican.

Obama Honeymoon With Americans Over

The sound of a train derailing down south is courtesy of President Barack Obama’s relatively smooth ride officially being over. According to the daily Presidential Tracking Poll by Rasmussen, the President now scores a “-8″ on the index that compares those Americans who “strongly approve” versus those who “strongly disapprove” of his job. The huge change from last week is likely based on the continuing disappointment in Barack Obama’s promise to deliver jobs to Americans. 39% give the President a high score on the economy while 43% believe he is doing a poor job.

The LA Times also cites a recent Harris Poll showing that his popularity has fallen from 59% to 54%, and disapproval up to 46%. On the economy he fares very poorly with 43% approving and 57% disapproving. LA Times writer Andrew Malcolm seems to have found the source of the negativity in that pesky older demographic:

In other numerical revelations, just 4% of Americans say that Wall Street or credit card companies are honest or trustworthy. A majority of young people still approve of Obama’s job performance, but a majority of seniors over 64 now don’t (54%). Maybe they’ll all die before the next election.

Indeed. Perhaps that’s what the Democrats universal health care strategy is based on.

As for the economy, it’s in very rough shape, as Wall Street hit a 10-week low amid frightening rumours of a second economic stimulus plan before the first one has even had time to be evaluated. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s like taking two Advil, waiting two minutes, and then deciding to take two more because you’re not sure if it’s working. The scare is based on comments by Laura Tyson, an adviser to President Obama, who said the U.S. should consider drafting another stimulus package. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said “we need to be open to whether or not we need additional action”, but couldn’t confirm whether the current stimulus plan is even working or not yet.

The Rasmussen report, by the way, says that 27% of voters nationwide favour passage of a second economic stimulus package, with a large majority [60%] opposed. Karl Rove has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today that challenges the need for a stimulus plan at all. Despite the $787 billion spent on the bill, unemployment is at 9.5% and the promised jobs are nowhere in sight. However, much like the Canadian stimulus budget, the administration has been plagued with delays in releasing the money to federal agencies.

Mr.Rove is by no means a neutral observer in U.S. politics, but his assessment is correct. The Obama administration has shown a clear pattern of pledging unrealistic, overly “hopeful” results, only to later suggest that they never claimed it was possible. But while President Obama’s popularity in the U.S. takes a nosedive because of the economy, Canadians remain curiously “smitten” with the man. According to a Harris-Decima survey, only 4% of Canadians believe he’s doing a poor job. Which means that Canadians are either selectively ignorant in what they choose to acknowledge, or the “Bush derangement” factor is still heavily influencing the results.

h/t Sidelines