In This Corner wearing Green Trunks We Have Paul Berton

And in the opposite corner wearing denim trunks is Lorrie Goldstein.

The Earth or the Economy?
Lorrie Goldstein and Paul Berton square off on global warming, Kyoto and Canada
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN AND PAUL BERTON

BERTON: Okay, let's start by agreeing that global warming is a catastrophe in the making.

GOLDSTEIN: Okay -- global warming is a possible catastrophe in the making -- just like, in the recent past, global cooling, nuclear winter, the "population bomb," acid rain, the hole in the ozone layer, killer bees and a worldwide flu pandemic. Strangely, we're still here. Your point?

BERTON: Not strangely. Miraculously. The nuclear threat still exists. A pandemic is inevitable. Acid rain is a fact. No, we're not dead yet, but you don't need to live in China or even suburban Toronto to know exponential population growth is a threat. The planet is resilient, but it's bending. Are you suggesting it won't break and we can focus on the economy and ignore the environment?

GOLDSTEIN: No, I'm telling you to calm down. Nothing good ever came of acting in a blind panic, running around like Chicken Little, or Al Gore, declaring "the sky is falling." Fall for that nonsense and you're apt to support the Kyoto Accord, which, by the way, really is a "socialist, money-sucking scheme."

BERTON: I accept the sky is not falling -- on us. But ask our kids, or our grandchildren. Surely this debate occurred ad inifinitum on Easter Island, until it was too late. We have no idea how many of history's Al Gores were successful, but the failures are evidenced in the rubble of civilizations from ancient Sumer to Chichen Itza. Environmental degradation killed them all. Today, we're not looking at individual societies, but the entire planet.

GOLDSTEIN: Gee, I thought it was European conquerers who killed off at least some of them. Exxon certainly didn't. Getting back to the present, you implied earlier that I was suggesting "we can focus on the economy and ignore the environment." Ah, the 'David-Suzuki' approach to ending all debate. Tell me, where, exactly, did I say either of those things?

BERTON: Obviously, it is impossible politically and socially to ignore the economy. My point is the economy always seems to win over the environment -- locally, nationally, internationally. One day we'll have no choice. So why not start now with some reasonable restrictions on the economy, in favour of the environment? So we can't meet our Kyoto committments. Does that make the attempt worthy of scorn?

GOLDSTEIN: Of course not. Now, we're get ting down to it. You're right, we can't meet our Kyoto commitments. We never could have even if the Liberals had been serious about meeting them, which they weren't. That makes 90% of the political discussion about this issue in Canada, specifically by the Liberals, Bloc, NDP and Greens, a total fantasy. Stephen Harper had it right the first time. We need a "made-in-Canada" plan and to hell with Kyoto. If only he'd really meant it.

BERTON: Okay, but we can't allow the bar to be low just to appease big business. Kyoto set the bar high for a purpose -- to drive home the message we're dealing with a potential nightmare. And so what if China and India (among others) are the elephants in the room? What's wrong with Canada being an example to the world? It could even be good for our economy.

GOLDSTEIN: There's nothing wrong with Canada being an example. There's everything wrong with Canada being a patsy. While we're savaging Alberta's oil sands and re-igniting western separatism in a futile attempt to meet Kyoto, the big emitters like the U.S., China, India and Russia will go right on doing what they're doing. We should withdraw from Kyoto and set our own course. Yes, let's address greenhouse gases but, even more important, smog, which really is killing us right now, end multi-billion dollar tax subsidies to Big Oil and Big Auto and use that money to help average Canadians retrofit their homes for maximum energy efficiency.

BERTON: Okay, barring the fact Canada will look like an international outlaw, carbon taxes and tough emission targets with strict guidelines (again) may have to do. And, as you have so eloquently written in the past, we should all think twice about our individual carbon footprints. Per capita, we're four times the global average in terms of CO2 emissions. By the way, have you seen Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth? I highly recommend it.

GOLDSTEIN: Not sure about a carbon tax. Let's start with hard caps on emissions and spending less public money subsidizing Big Oil, etc. As for An Inconvenient Truth, yeah, I did my due diligence. But I'd recommend several books as much more informative: Robert Henson's The Rough Guide to Climate Change (the best I've seen on this topic); Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers; James Lovelock's The Revenge of Gaia; and Stormy Weather -- 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change by Guy Dauncey. I doubt even "the Goreacle" could object to that list.