EDITORIAL: Trudeau's climate hypocrisy in plane sight
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Climate activists who are truly honest with themselves and their audience do not shy away from the massive sacrifices each and every person would have to make if we as a society are going to hit the high targets of emission reductions that they demand.
We don’t agree with their calls to extreme action. But we give them points for consistency.
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People like Green Party leader Elizabeth May, Canadian author Naomi Klein and teenage activist Greta Thunberg all talk about the need for an all hands on deck mobilization of society similar to what England did in World War II.
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They say we have to do much less as a population and learn to live with much less. Theirs is an economy where we scale back on travel, consumption and all around human activity.
It’s incredibly over the top, but if we generally do want to enforce a zero emissions society in the near future – which, to repeat, we do not support – then this is the way to do it.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks a very big game about climate change. He does not shy away from chastising others as “deniers” and insists on fighting provincial governments in the courts if they don’t want his unpopular carbon tax forced down their throats.
Yet, lo and behold, we discover that Trudeau is needlessly doubling the air flight emissions he chalks up during the campaign.
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Canadians learned on Wednesday that while all of the other campaigns travel the country with just one airplane – which includes the leader, staff, equipment and media travelling alongside – Trudeau travels using two airplanes.
There is no justifiable excuse for this. It’s just a choice.
The Liberal team’s answer is that they have purchased something called “carbon offsets” to make up for it – something like Papal indulgences for their sins.
That doesn’t change the fact that they’re still using two planes that create a lot of emissions.
It would be one thing if Trudeau practiced what he condescendingly preached. That isn’t that case though. Instead, we learn there are one set of rules for the Liberal team and another set of rules for the other politicians and especially for the little guy.
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