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Say goodbye to the sled

08 Jan 2020 | News Roundup

In our last newsletter before the Christmas/New Year’s break we deplored the activist habit of cheapening Christmas by dragging it into policy debates and scaring kids. Well, they didn’t stop. The New York Times chirped “Don’t feel like watching that holiday movie you’ve already seen 900 times? Then gather ’round to learn about a topic even more timely than Christmas cookies and the dreidel song: our warming planet” and proceeded to suggest that we skip A Christmas Carol and so on and watch “An Inconvenient Truth” as well as its sequel, DiCaprio’s “Before the Flood” etc. instead, adding “Don’t worry about spoiling the holiday mood: Most of them end on an inspiring note.” Unlike the school in Saskatchewan that put Santa in a green suit, metaphorically at least, and made energy industry workers’ children sing “Turn Off the Pump”.

When confronted by distressed parents, the chair of the school division Board of Trustees said “There was no political agenda.” The play just happened to be called “Santa Goes Green” and preached about recycling and stuff. Oh fess up. The plot summary from the publisher of the story reads “Melting ice caps; global warming; surfing reindeer! The North Pole is going green this year and everyone is excited – everyone, that is, except Santa who likes things just the way they are. Solar panels; LED light bulbs; new power sources? It all sounds a bit inconvenient to him. Mrs. Claus; the elves; toys and reindeer have their hands full!”

So Santa’s the angry old white man. Charming. You’re on our list for a visit from three spirits this year, or a grouchy Santa bearing yes, lumps of coal.

5 comments on “Say goodbye to the sled”

  1. Bill gates said he thought renewables were not the answer on a tv interview recently. I think he would have a rational approach to climate change. He likely needs to fly for business reasons. Other than that I agree with everything in the column

  2. After the last federal election, I have no hope for waking up as a nation. There is a slim chance for the western provinces, but not in a federation.

  3. This winter so far: no snow in Southern Finland. Something I have never experienced before. Goodbye sled.
    Unfortunately the old times are over, and it is time to wake up.
    Stop listening greedy companies trying to prevent you from thinking -and finding out where things really are going. Climate denialists are trying to harm the credibility of independent science, and make it seem somehow "political".
    They try to make you believe that everything is OK, and you can consume whatever and however you have been doing this far, but things are changing. We need clean energy, and less pollution. Now.

  4. So Marco reports no snow in Southern Findland yet. So what! That's just weather. Today it was -30 c in Calgary and we have had permanent snow since mid November. That's just weather too. Don't confuse weather with climate change and don't confuse climate change with human activity. Concurrence doesn't equal causation .

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