Elizabeth May - New Green Party leader

[August1991]

The new leader of the Green Party of Canada has called on the government to give notice to the U.S. that it wants to end the free-trade deal.

...

May, elected with 65 per cent of the votes at Saturday's convention, said NAFTA works for the U.S., but not for Canada.

CBC

Well, the Green Party just definitively lost my vote.

During the speech, Ms. May criticized the recent deal on softwood lumber between Canada and the United States, saying it demonstrates why the North American Free Trade Agreement needs to be renegotiated with the U.S. and Mexico.

"In signing this deal, Mr. Harper has said, 'If you push us enough we will say uncle.' We're not against trade but trade must be fair and carbon neutral."

G & M

As the leader of a Green Party, she had a perfect opportunity to talk about low stumpage fees and how this leads to an over-exploitation of a natural resource. Instead, she chose to play to the gallery and falsely blame the US government for an agreement that is in fact good for Canadian lumber producers (and ironically not bad for Canada's forest resources).

Ms. May said she make a special effort to reach out to youth, and noted the sector was important for her leadership victory. Acknowledging her French needs improvement, she said she hopes to take intensive lessons.

"I plan to be fluently bilingual by the time of the next leadership debates," Ms. May said.

What is this (American) attitude that one can learn a language the same way one can lose weight? The federal Green Party has alot of potential in Quebec .

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All in all, I'd say the new Green Party looks like NDP Lite. The NDP will likely lose all those environmental group endorsements. It's anyone's call how many votes the Greens will take from the NDP.

This woman will be sitting on about $1 million annually of federal money through the $1.75/vote scheme. I wonder if other lobby groups could be formed in a similar fashion. The intention would not be to get anyone elected but merely to use the electoral money to advance the "cause"; whatever that might be.

[geoffrey]

And the leftwing vote pie gets divided once again...

[Ricki Bobbi]

Yup, another good sign for the Conservatives. Seems like the Greens, Liberals and NDP will all be fighting over the left of centre vote? Gotta wonder if this might, minorly, effect the Liberal leadership race. Will they be more likely to pick somebody from the left side of the party as a result? Rae?

About the story... All trade should be "carbon neutral"?

What does that mean?

And the leftwing vote pie gets divided once again...

[geoffrey]

I don't get this carbon neutral thing myself. I thought that carbon dioxide affects everyone no matter where it's released??

Maybe the greenies are confused on their concepts again?

[August1991]

About the story... All trade should be "carbon neutral"?

What does that mean?

Me too, I wondered what that meant. I think she may have been referring to placing tariffs on exports/imports that contain potential CO2 emissions. But God knows.

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This woman's an anti-Vietnam, blue State, back-to-the-land activist.

I was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1954 to a British father, who had chosen accountancy as a profession and my mother, a sculptor and peace activist, as a wife. For eighteen years, my parents, younger brother and I lived in the same house on seven acres with ponies, sheep, dogs, cats, and chickens in a rural area outside Hartford. I learned how to be an activist from my mother’s campaigns to end nuclear weapons testing, promote civil rights, and end the War in Vietnam. By the time I was thirteen, I had discovered that I was an environmentalist and decided on my future: environmental law. In 1973, my parents moved the family to a village on the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. The move was largely due to falling in love with the beauty of the Island, coupled with increasing anxiety about the prospects for an end to the War in Vietnam.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I even admire activists in a way. I'm certainly not going to question the right of an American who chooses to live in rural Canada and then get involved in political life.

But her reasons for wanting to lead the Green Party bother me:

I decided to do so because Canadian political life needs a vibrant and passionate voice for planetary survival, for social justice and for peace. No party now offers that voice. Now is the time for the Green Party of Canada to come into its own.

Link

It is profoundly counterproductive and wrong to combine environmental protection with unrelated issues such as "social justice" and "peace".

[geoffrey]

I decided to do so because Canadian political life needs a vibrant and passionate voice for planetary survival, for social justice and for peace. No party now offers that voice. Now is the time for the Green Party of Canada to come into its own.

Link

It is profoundly counterproductive and wrong to combine environmental protection with unrelated issues such as "social justice" and "peace".

Exactly, just turns them into NDP-lite and crushes their chances of ever being successful. Detracts from the Libs and NDP too.

[Leafless]

I don't get this carbon neutral thing myself. I thought that carbon dioxide affects everyone no matter where it's released??

Maybe the greenies are confused on their concepts again?

All this is is another scam.

Carbon offsets are projects that reduce or prevent the accumulation of global warming gasses and you contribute towards these projects that are suppose to do this which might or might not be tax deductible.

http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0606.asp...CFShHPgod4QPiIw

[geoffrey]

I don't get this carbon neutral thing myself. I thought that carbon dioxide affects everyone no matter where it's released??

Maybe the greenies are confused on their concepts again?

All this is is another scam.

Carbon offsets are projects that reduce or prevent the accumulation of global warming gasses and you contribute towards these projects that are suppose to do this which might or might not be tax deductible.

http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0606.asp...CFShHPgod4QPiIw

It's a ridiculous concept. Don't reduce emissions, just spend on 'Green' stuff too!!!

Wow, I can't believe this has followers.

[August1991]

Carbon offsets are projects that reduce or prevent the accumulation of global warming gasses and you contribute towards these projects that are suppose to do this which might or might not be tax deductible.

Carbon offsets make perfect sense. If the purpose is to reduce CO2 emissions, then who can argue with the idea of achieving this goal at lowest cost.

Why would we insist that Syncrude spend $50 million to reduce CO2 emissions by X amount when some other emitter can reduce emissions by X for merely $10 million? Let Syncrude pay the other emitter $12 million to reduce emissions instead. Both benefit and CO2 emissions are reduced by X. That's an offset.

Since May did not refer to "offsets" but rather "carbon neutral trade", and given her views on NAFTA, I suspect she means something else. (What?)

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But this raises an interesting point. May was angry with the US for not respecting NAFTA in the softwood lumber dispute. Does that mean she thinks Canada should be more forceful in defending the rights of Canadian lumber producers to sell their softwood in the US?

What effect would chopping down all those trees have on CO2 emissions? Maybe we should leave the trees standing. Moreover, as a Green activist, surely she should err on the side of caution in exploiting a natural resource. Does she think that Canadian stumpage fees are not too low?

The remark she made in her acceptance speech about NAFTA and softwood lumber will come back to haunt her. I suspect that there is a nasty catfight in store between the Greens and the NDP. It will be of rabble.ca meltdown/take-no-prisoners proportions.

[Leafless]

Since May did not refer to "offsets" but rather "carbon neutral trade", and given her views on NAFTA, I suspect she means something else. (What?)

She is implying that by buying carbon offsets to cancel out your carbon emissions would make you 'carbon neutral'.

But this is still pipe dreaming as the whole world would have to prescribe to this project to make it viable.

This appears to be another 'Kyoto'.

[Toro]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I even admire activists in a way. I'm certainly not going to question the right of an American who chooses to live in rural Canada and then get involved in political life.

I seem to recall some getting all bent out of shape when Tom Long, who was born in Michigan, ran for the head of the Tories.

It is profoundly counterproductive and wrong to combine environmental protection with unrelated issues such as "social justice" and "peace".

I agree.

Unfortunately, they link those issues on the Left.