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Media Report

Kyoto--how quickly we forget

by Arthur Weinreb

January 20, 2003

The mainstream news media have been fairly silent on the Kyoto Protocol since it was ratified by the Canadian parliament last month. No one is really certain if the government is serious about reducing carbon emissions. It may be too difficult or unpopular to reach the targets and the treaty provides for penalties to be assessed to countries that fail to reach the agreed upon emissions reductions. As the governing Liberals have shown in their approach to gun control, money is no object when it comes to politically correct legislation. So it is far from a certainty that serious efforts will be made to reach the target reductions.

Nevertheless if we take them at their word, and accept Environment Minister David Anderson’s statement that the oil and gas sector will not bear the brunt of complying with Kyoto but that we will all share in the reduction of emissions, many changes in our lifestyles will have to take place. When newsworthy events happened, possible influences of Kyoto are never mentioned. For example, recent hikes in the price of gasoline have been reported on without reference to Kyoto. The same complaints were made about the causes of the increase and the same cast of characters like Liberal MP Dan McTeague were sought out for comments.

What the media did not mention in connection with the price hikes was that carbon emissions can be reduced by reducing the amount of vehicles on the road. And everyone, with the possible exception of Ontario premier Ernie Eves who prevents hydro rates from rising but hopes to lower demand by asking people to use less, knows that increasing the price of gas will reduce the amount of automobile usage as many drivers will be forced to use alternative methods of transportation. Huge increases in the cost of gasoline, in the area of 50 cents per litre, was one of the proposals that the feds had kicked around as a way of reducing carbon emissions. You would think that the pro-Kyoto and pro-environment mainstream media would report substantial price increases in the cost of gasoline as a good thing. But they didn’t. So much for saving the earth.

The American media were no different. During the 2000 U.S. presidential campaign, gas prices in some areas of the mid-west rose to $1.65 a gallon. Democratic Party presidential contender Al Gore blamed George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and all their friends in "the big oil companies" for the price hike. No one in the mainstream media confronted Gore about his 1992 book, Earth in the Balance, where he wrote that gas would have to rise to at least $2.00 a gallon if the doomed planet were to be saved.

There are several things that are reported on by the media in which drastic changes will have to be made if Kyoto is to be fully implemented. Yet the media ignores it. It seems once Canada ratified the agreement, the story ended.

In a December 31 article appearing in the Toronto Sun, the paper’s Ottawa Bureau Chief, Bill Rodgers wrote that the federal government has plans to clean up water supplies on Indian "reservations".

Someone should point out to the Sun’s Bureau Chief that Canada does not have reservations--we have reserves. And as the word appeared twice in the article, it does not appear to be a typo.

Does Rogers think that Canada has railroads too?

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men's News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and The Rant. Arthur can be reached at: aweinreb@interlog.com