What the Daily News won't print

Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 11:02:36 -0400 (AST)
From: Larry Hughes <lhughes2@dal.ca>
To: Sustainable Maritimes <sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca>
Precedence: bulk
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If recent articles are anything to go by, the Daily News is happily
printing articles from climate change skeptics.  The following letter
[unpublished] is a rebuttal to one that appeared last week. 

---
 
In her Perspective column, "The Case Against Kyoto" (30 October), Joan
Crockatt presents three arguments why Canada should not ratify the Kyoto
Protocol.  Her points are easily refutable, given her selective use of
data and her misunderstanding of the Kyoto Protocol.
 
First, Ms. Crockatt uses the recently announced finding that the Antarctic
ozone hold is smaller because of warmer-than-normal temperatures as
evidence that the science surrounding Kyoto is "shaky".  Ms. Crockatt is
confusing ozone depletion and climate change -- the Antarctic ozone hole
is a product of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from human sources rather than
global warming.  Furthermore, Ms. Crockatt overlooks the fact that the
warming of the polar regions (both Antarctic and Arctic) is causing
significant melting; in the case of the Arctic, it is affecting the
Inuit's lifestyle. 
 
Second, Ms. Crockatt calls the Kyoto Protocol a "wealth transfer system"
because Canada will be forced to purchase emissions credits if we do not
meet our emissions targets.  This is only partially true.  Had she read
the Kyoto Protocol, she would be aware that there are two mechanisms that
any signatory of the protocol can use to reduce their emissions: JI (or
Joint Initiative) and CDM (or Clean Development Mechanism).  Both JI and
CDM allow countries and industries to gain emissions credits by installing
clean energy technologies in other countries.  Canada could purchase
emissions credits, or it could encourage the development of clean
technologies for use both home and abroad.
 
Third, Ms. Crockatt claims that Canada is a "cold country with great
distances between cities".  True, but many other "cold" countries use
considerably less energy for space heating than Canadians do because they
use fossil fuels as efficiently as possible; for example, in Denmark, the
'waste' heat from power stations is used for space heating.  The "great
distances" argument is another red herring, given that very few of us
drive our automobiles between cities on a regular basis; in fact, the
average Canadian automobile is driven about 50 kilometres a day.

---

Larry Hughes, PhD
Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 2X4, Canada

v: 902.494.3950
f: 902.422.7535
e: larry.hughes@dal.ca
u: http://www.dal.ca/~lhughes2



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CBC enviro news-briefs follow:
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SCIENTISTS CHECKING MERCURY LEVELS OFF FUNDY COAST
Researchers are taking samples of hair and getting detailed lists of what
people are eating, in an effort to know how much mercury Canadians are
exposed to.
FULL STORY
http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_mercnb20021202

ARR MATEY, THERE'S GOLD NEAR CAPE BRETON!
  A treasure hunter in Cape Breton says he has discovered a million-dollar
find &#150 two 17th-century Spanish treasure ships off the island's east
coast.
FULL STORY
http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_cptrea20021129

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