I'm really stressed out about the current election trends. In specific, I fear another Harper government is almost inevitable. A large reason why Harper has a chance I think is because, for some strange reason, Canadian voters seem to believe he's the best leader to deal with our impending economic catastrophe (even though free market ideologies caused the housing crisis). The last ditch hope I have for anything good to come from this whole situation is that a full scale recession or depression might end up slowing our consumption of fossil fuels and also prevent other greenhouse gasses from being polluted into our atmosphere. Is this a realistic picture of things to come or is this economic crisis not as serious as some are making it out to be? If a depression is likely to cause a slowdown in the burning in greenhouse gasses then, if Stephen Harper wins in two weeks, I will be praying for an economic catastrophe!
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I too have the same concern about another Harper government. One of the earlier blogs listed a site that may be helpful. It was www.voteforenvironment.ca. It lists the candidates in each riding and which party is in the lead. The idea being to cross party allegiance and vote of the party that has the best chance of beating the cons. However I can't agree that an economic catastrophe would bring hope and reduce greenhouse gases. Unfortunately a lot of eco friendly options are still more expensive that the alternatives and would likely be the first place people make cuts. Also a depression would cause strain across that board, not only for high polluting lifestyles. It may be a long shot, but I'm holding out hope that Harper won't be re-elected and the next government will at least think of the environment as ONE OF the issues to deal with (which Harpere obviously hasn't).
Cool. Keep spreading the word about these great web sites. voteforclimate.ca is another great web site. I can understand what you're saying about the expensiveness of eco friendly options.It is true that fewer people will be buying hybrids if there is a recession or a depression. We probably wont buy solar panels either because of their current prices especially if we're all being tight with our money. However, my hope is that as the economy slows down so will our consumption habits. Fewer consumption means lower production. Lower production, i think, means less use of resources and less consumption of energy. Also, if people have less money they probably wont be travelling as much... maybe they'll start taking the bus because they cannot afford a car, gas and insurance. I dont have much of a background in economics or environmental sciences but I do know that the poorest countries in the world are the ones that consume less energy and resources per capita. Anyway, i'm wondering if the fact that people wont be able to afford green technology will be compensated for by the fact that people will consume less under the circumstances of a recession or depression.
A downturn in the economy has a mixed effect. The general lessening of busyness making products we don't really need and the transporting them around the globe will reduce. But on the other hand, the economic downturn becomes yet another excuse not to invest in new clean technology.
In a downturn it becomes more important than ever for the government to provide both carrots and sticks. In a bullsh economy, the lure of fabluous wealth from the new economy works quite well, at least in some parts of the world.
So would you argue that a Harper majority will still see a rise in greenhouse gas emissions even in the context of an economic depression?