It's a good thing Canada has a surfeit of pearls to clutch. In an interview on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau breathlessly expressed his concern that the possible re-election of former President Donald Trump would harm the world's efforts to bring the climate change monster to heel.
If Republican frontrunner Donald Trump wins the 2024 U.S. election it could harm the global effort to fight climate change, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an interview aired on Friday.
Trump, who denies the science of climate change, said last week that if elected he would renege on a $3 billion U.S. pledge to a global fund meant to help developing countries cut emissions. Trump has made attacking the Biden administration's investments in renewable energy a core part of his campaign message.
"Yes, there's a concern particularly around the environment at a time where it's so important to move forward on protecting and building an economy of the future," Trudeau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Three billion dollars -- taxpayer dollars -- pledged to a "global fund meant to help developing countries cut emissions." Let me translate that for you: $3 billion taxpayer dollars sent to corrupt, Third World countries. And the vast majority of these funds are likely to end up in the Swiss bank accounts of those countries' leaders.
Why does this bother me? This is why: (Screenshot below, as of this writing; it's gone up since.)
We can't afford to be sending $3 billion to this "pledge." Oh, I know, I can do the math, and see that this amount is small potatoes compared to the US National Debt, but the way you bring the debt crisis under control is first to stop spending. That spending cessation has to come from across the board.
I'm not sure what's up with Canada. Their government seems very content to pursue this climate panic at the expense of their citizens. But Canada is another country, and Canada's citizens are entitled to get the government they voted for, good and hard. What bothers me is that the first thing PM Trudeau is worried about is how much the United States is going to be kicking into this global effort. That's his go-to --- "This is our priority, but we want to know if the United States will be picking up the tab."
I should certainly hope, should he win reelection, that President Trump does pull us out of this "pledge." Whether you buy into the notion of anthropogenic climate change or not, we can't afford this. If Canada wants to spend money on this "pledge," that's between Ottawa and the Canadian taxpayers, but here in Real-World, given the fiscal mess the politicians of our own country have placed us in, there's no reason for us to do this. Just like there's no reason to subsidize electric cars when it's not even at all certain that they result in any decrease in overall carbon emissions.
Canada is pushing electric cars, too, even as U.S. car dealers are backing away from the whole proposition.
Ford said on Thursday that half of all 1,550 Ford dealers chose to sell electric vehicles in 2024—down from two-thirds that said this time last year that they would opt in to sell EVs for 2023.
The other half of Ford dealers will sell—and service—ICE and hybrid models. “EV adoption rates vary across the country, and we believe our dealers know their market best,” Ford spokesman Martin Günsberg told the Detroit Free Press.
Trudeau's climate concerns, mind you, didn't stop PM Trudeau from flying to Europe to join the pearl-clutching over climate in the Swiss Alps; one has to wonder what the carbon footprint of that trip amounted to.
I know I keep saying it, and I'll keep on saying it until there's no reason to go on saying it: I'll start believing there's a climate crisis when the people who keep telling me there's a climate crisis start acting like there's a climate crisis.
