The tragedy of environmental denial - THE CROWN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL

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The tragedy of environmental denial
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• QUATHIASKI COVE, B.C.  The psychological
  dynamics of problem solving are well known. When
  a problem is identified and assessed, and when a
  corrective strategy is formulated and activated,
  then people begin to feel better. Hope replaces
  the feeling of inevitable defeat that is the
  result of inaction. Uncertainty and
  procrastination are corrosive to contentment and
  lethal to optimism.
• Optimism cant replace pessimism until
  constructive action begins. This explains why
  increasing numbers of people are becoming gloomy
  about their environmental future. Those with even
  the most rudimentary understanding of
  environmental issues recognize that the problems
  are large, serious and complex, that they are
  deep and global rather than superficial and
  local. As the predictions of climate science
  become more dire, the mood darkens. The dangerous
  threshold of a 2C increase in global temperature
  is now considered to be inevitable. The
  scientific models are predicting 4C by
  2060-2070, and unless we reduce emissions
  quickly and dramatically at least 6C by 2100.

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• The pessimism in Canada is particularly
  pronounced because this country has a federal
  government that actively subverts international
  efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, is
  silent on the ecological effects of a melting
  Arctic, avoids discussing the root cause of
  extreme weather events, systematically obstructs
  scientists who raise issues of environmental
  relevance, and blithely plots a future for
  Canadians that seems wholly disconnected from the
  most basic principles of climate science.
• Indeed, Canadas government seems to be living on
  a different planet, oblivious to the mood of
  concern eroding the morale of the country. No
  wonder that a cloud of pessimism is darkening the
  emergence of optimism when our national political
  leadership seems numb to the catastrophic
  consequences of unrestrained greenhouse gas
  emissions.
• The tragedy of this position of denial is
  compounded by the experience that real problems
  are more easily solved than imagined ones. When
  problems are identified and solutions attempted,
  we find ways to overcome obstacles that once
  seemed overwhelming. But worry in the company of
  inaction is a fatal combination that wastes
  energy, saps resolve, squanders creativity and
  produces cynicism.

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• Instead of contemplating corrective strategies,
  the imagination concocts worse-case scenarios,
  anticipates disaster and dissolves in gloom.
  Passive resignation is a poor substitute for
  positive initiative. Without a Canadian strategy
  for addressing the twin threats of global warming
  and climate change, everyone in the country
  becomes a fretting victim of failure, rendered
  powerless about a fate they are not attempting to
  avoid.
• To counteract this destructive effect, many
  provinces, cities, towns and municipalities have
  undertaken heroic initiatives that range from
  carbon taxes and bicycling infrastructure to
  composting projects and urban gardening. Green
  spaces, parks, walkways and stream rehabilitation
  are just a few of their initiatives to restore
  and enhance healthy environments. Within their
  limited capabilities they have attempted to
  increase energy efficiencies, provide rapid
  transit and limit urban sprawl.
• Heroic as these undertakings are, their effects
  are relatively small without an overarching
  national policy that sets and coordinates clear
  objectives that can then be synchronized with
  local and international policies. The fundamental
  environmental threat we are facing is
  multinational and global. Community and
  individual effort is exemplary and important. But
  the key to eventual ecological management is a
  system of guiding national initiatives that
  concur with global principles. When such
  principles are clearly defined and assiduously
  respected, they inspire hope.

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• In this regard, the Canadian government is guilty
  of neglect, abject failure and even subversion.
• While Ottawa has just started to consider carbon
  taxes, Norway is increasing its levy from 33 to
  72 per tonne to add an extra 1.6 billion to
  funds that will increase energy efficiencies,
  combat climate change, encourage renewable
  energy, enhance food security, reduce
  deforestation and help developing countries
  convert to low-carbon energy sources. Norwegians
  are debt free, with 720 billion in savings to
  safeguard their security and the ecologies on
  which they depend.
• Britain is actually meeting its 1990 Kyoto
  Protocol target for greenhouse gas emissions, an
  objective that Canada dismissed as being
  impossible for itself subsequently withdrawing,
  for the first time in its history, from a legally
  binding obligation to the international
  community.
• While some countries struggle bravely to reduce
  their greenhouse gases, Canadas contribution has
  been dismal. Our bewildering negligence has
  branded us a pariah state that is undermining the
  worlds environmental security.

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• The effect on the Canadian psyche of our national
  inaction and the resulting international censure
  is corrosive. This explains why doomsday
  scenarios are becoming a preoccupation of our
  imagination. If Canadas government were to
  methodically address environmental problems in a
  manner proportional to their actual severity, and
  if it were to actively solicit and encourage
  public dialogue, participation and innovation,
  then the Canadian collective mood would brighten.
• The focus of our attention would shift from
  helpless worry to actual solutions of which
  there are many and optimism would begin to
  replace pessimism. When, however, our national
  government is not even capable of acknowledging a
  problem as fundamental and obvious as global
  climate change, then the effect is sufficiently
  poisonous to prevent us from proceeding to
  hopeful and practical solutions.
• Ray Grigg is the author of seven internationally
  published books on Oriental philosophy,
  specifically Zen and Taoism.
• ----- environmental fraud issues