You're voting for who?!

Blog from May 11, 2009.

Voting on Tuesday feels much like having your wisdom teeth pulled. All four. At once. You don't want to do it, but the dull pain and advice of your dentist (who is supposed to know a little about these things) have pushed you over the edge. I'm not particularly fond of any of the parties, but if I don't vote, someone else will, and it might be more painful than what I'm currently feeling (dull pain, remember).

When comparing the lesser of evils, one needs to consider a) what is most important to them, b) the time-line under which decisions will be made, and c) what politicians are really like. Apparently someone once said that all politicians are the same...for the most part, I use this as my motto.

Any organization that has done any amount of research on climate change has concluded the same thing; changes - big political changes - need to happen soon if we are going to avert major climate changes. Most peg the window of opportunity somewhere between 18 and 30 months. Holy crap...that's soon. McKinsey Consulting, the UN, and every environmental NGO on the planet all agree. Hmm, makes one wonder if maybe they are right.

So if the air, trees, current outdoor temperature, health of your kids, and the water level in relation to your house are important factors for you, then so is environmental policy. The LIberals, while having done some great things - notably the carbon tax - they have also made some pretty stupid decisions when it comes to environmental protection, and they aren't repentant about it. Private US companies like General Electric (GE) now hold majority rights to some private electricity production in BC. I am going to make a wild speculation here: GE does not have our best interests in mind. Last I checked they were a publicly traded company, and Good Business 101 states that businesses are ultimately responsible to the shareholders. Yes it brought investment into BC, and created temporary construction jobs. However foreign investment dictates that money (revenues) will eventually flow out of the province. If GE invested billions of dollars into the private energy production, they are going to want their money back, plus a nice rate of return. Guess who is going to pay the interest...

The Liberals are also building a new, wider bridge in the name of progress. More lanes equals more cars, not less, and that equals more GHG emissions. But I thought we were supposed to be reducing our emissions?

Now, Carol James did a stupid thing; she said No to the Carbon Tax. She unfortunately missed the memo where Bill Clinton, The Economist, the UN, Al Gore, Michael Ignatieff, and heaps of other economists, environmentalists, and randoms all said that carbon tax is the right tool for pricing carbon into our lives and shifting habits. Similar stupid mistakes have been made by politicians going back a very long time, so I will forgive her this one. And while saying the motto over in your mind ('they are all the same') think about the countless politicians that have made promises that were not kept. What a concept.

So let's play the 'what-if' game: if the NDP does get in, do I think that Carol James will get rid of the carbon tax, even though everyone who is anyone says it's a good thing? She'd certainly look like a dumb-dumb if the federal govt imposed one as she tried to take it away. What is more likely? Well I'm not a political scientist, but other govts faced with similar issues have often 'cancelled' a policy, only to re-instate it under a different name, with a slight modification here and there. This will fool the masses, and appease the people who are really paying attention.

I am interested in protecting what it is about BC that makes me want to live here. I agree, it's not perfect, but I'm hoping my teeth won't hurt as much over the long run.