01-08 Climate Politics

Calling a package of government tax reform measures a “bag of snakes” was a one-liner that was picked up by all the newspapers, television and radio stations across Canada in 1983.
It was more effective in making changes than all the technical meetings held between government and private sector experts. It was politics.
And, something I have learned about climate change is that it is technical like tax reform. So, politics is going to be more important in building support for climate action than understanding the technology.
Photos that are emotional in their impact. Stories that move people to action. Initiatives that create the perception of an impending crisis.
For thirty years of my life I was engaged in political action as a small business leader. So, I speak with some authority when I call the politics of climate change probably the most difficult challenge facing political leaders everywhere.
Quick action by governments to deal with climate change are threatening because they impact people’s jobs. The reality is that fossil fuels energize growth. Politicians must move carefully and slowly. So, it should be no surprise that most government initiatives to date are designed to look good without really doing anything.
A warming climate is about drought, floods and all kinds of extreme weather. But these kinds of calamities must impact the big economies before they will translate into political action that really counts. Something like 40% of all carbon emissions come from the US and China. What they do is significant.
It would be my judgement call that technology is going to be the most effective tool for reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. Whether it will be enough or even timely, who knows. But, at least, the politics are easy.
When governments feel the political timing is right, they will outlaw the internal combustion engine for automobiles. Money in the oil business is made producing fuel oils and gasoline. So, if you replace traditional automobiles with electric vehicles you will shut down refineries.
And governments requiring that all new homes include rooftop solar is another public initiative that will be widespread as the public buys into climate change. This will reduce the consumption of natural gas for home heating.
What excites me about renewables like wind and solar are the applications for the third of the world’s population that does not have electrical power. We cannot deny them the right to industrialize. So, energy sources without power grids is the future for communities in Africa and South America.
Getting back to politics, few people appreciate that all political parties in the developed world utilize secret brain-trusts to determine what is Liberal or Conservative, Democratic or Republican. They report to the head of their party.
I have spoken to these groups many times in helping them develop a small business policy and political agenda that is appropriate to their party’s philosophy. Their thinking is continuously under change.
This means that parties of the right who now consider it smart politics to front for the fossil fuel industry can easily abandon their friends if public attitudes change.
And publics around the world are slowly buying into the science that the warming climate is caused by man-made emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other goodies.
I am optimistic that politicians of all parties everywhere will become climate activists. It will be like war time when parties tend to work in tandem. But that doesn’t mean we are going to win the climate war.