There’s no question that solar technology should be a central part of our energy mix in the coming years.  There is also no question that the benefits of solar energy are many and increasing, the technology is improving, and cost is going down.  So why has Canada had such an abysmal record when it comes to creating the policy framework necessary to benefit from the power of the sun?  

The simple answer is that Canada does not have a comprehensive strategy or incentives in place to support the growth of the solar industry in this country.  Contrary to subsidies provided to develop nuclear and fossil fuel energy generation – few incentives have directed to the solar industry.  I’m not just referring to technology – but also the skilled trades needed to install the panels. 

The price and lack of promotion of solar energy means that Canadians have been reluctant about the cost and soundness of the technology.  And while recent efforts in Ontario have been a good start they pale in comparison to what is required to power this energy source.   

We need leadership at a national level to really drive the solar agenda.   I am not just referring to government here.  We don’t need more committees or task forces to figure out what needs to be done.  The knowledge exists in industry, community groups and government to facilitate the transformation to a renewable energy economy.  Each has to contribute something to make the vision one of possibility and performance.

There is a major solar market here waiting to wake up.  This is an area that is worth making major investment in, but Canada’s strategy needs to be well coordinated, and well executed in order to effectively encourage Canadians to buy into a better future.

The U.S. subprime debacle is now in full swing. Lawmakers in DC can’t seem to agree on a $700 bailout plan. Plan? Why did they let this happen in the first place?

$700 Billion and John McCain wants to lower taxes? Hello! Think about this for a second. If you are not going to help pay off the billions of dollars, who is? Yes, you guessed it – your kids!

It’s a bit like trading in the Prius for a Hummer and telling your kids they can't go to college because they are driving in the back seat of their tuition and text books.

When will Wall St. stop worrying about the next quarter and DC stop worrying about the next election?

Imagine a presidential news conference in 2018 (10 years after James Hansen’s warning that we only have 10 years to turn this ship around) after the fourth Katrina-like hurricane of the year.

Today’s bailout of $700 Billion will seem like a joke. Picture the president saying we need a $7 trillion climate crisis bailout plan - now. We have to build 200,000 wind turbines now, we have to stop pumping oil now, and we have to invest in solar energy now. Why don’t they listen in 2008 and start the process now, not in 2018.

In 2018 the president will be looking back and thinking that perhaps Al Gore’s Clean Energy in 10 years in 2008 wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

A few years ago subprime seemed like a good idea and now look at the mess today. Does anyone in DC see beyond the next election or the consequences of their actions?

Bailouts are not plans; they are the student equivalent of cramming for an exam. I have to admit, I did cram for the odd exam, 25 years ago, when I was 18. I am not 18 anymore, neither are the folks on Capitol Hill. It’s time they woke up and started acting like mature adults and not teenagers cramming for an exam.

Why? Because cramming for the climate crisis exam is not going to work!

The Independent published an exclusive article recently, detailing the findings of an international group of scientists who have found that methane gas is being released in an area where they had thought the permafrost was keeping a lid on the methane deposits, but they now suggest is perforated. The warming trend in the arctic is causing the permafrost, that year-round frozen layer of soil, to melt, which is releasing methane at a rate never anticipated.

Methane is a greenhouse gas whose strength is important to understand.

From the Encyclopedia of Earth (http://www.eoearth.org/article/Methane): “Methane has a global warming potential (GWP) of 23. This means that every kilogram of methane emitted to the atmosphere has the equivalent forcing effect on the Earth's climate of 23kg of carbon dioxide over a 100 year period.”

In the Independent article, Science Editor Steve O’Connor writes: “The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be greater than the total amount of carbon locked up in global coal reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these deposits as the region warms at a faster rate than other places on earth.”  He writes that the Arctic has seen a 4C rise in the last few decades.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/exclusive-the-methane-time-bomb-938932.html

Climate change is on a non-linear path, and the longer we wait to seriously take action in our own lives and in our country, the more serious effects we will see around the world.

This is a definite wake-up call -- address climate change now!

The subprime mortgage fiasco is hitting global financial markets and individuals pockets like a massive hurricane.

The powers that be in DC and Wall Street let this happen. The American public put their trust in DC and Wall Street, and look what happened. Millions of Americans are upside down and now millions of Americans are paying for the lack of judgement and leadership in DC because they let this happen. Why? Goverment bailout = taxpayers paying for the bailout. The US deficit is hovering around $10 Trillion and increasing at a rate of about $1.8 Billion PER DAY!

Wall Street and DC have encouraged American families to pursue a perverse, hyper version of the American Dream.

Sadly, the American Dream has been skewed to the point of encouraging and fostering individual consumption beyond their general capacity to pay for the ride. For what?

The American Dream has to change, FAST, for two MAJOR reasons:

1) The American Dream (or perverse version of it today) has to become sustainable - financial sustainable for families, i.e. not spending beyond their means and financially sustainable for the country, which it obviously is not.

2) People from countries around the world aspire to the level of lifestyle that North Americans lead. Common sense dictates that this aspiration is not sustainable financially and environmentally - there is not enough planet to go around for that level of consumption. We have to do the right thing now, not just for us, but for the rest of the world.

Take a look at current issues in the U.S. - a housing crisis, a health care crisis and employment crisis. This reminds me of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Our basic physiological needs include food, water and sleep. Our safety needs (next step up) include security of property, security of health and security of employment...three basic needs, all of which are at risk in the U.S.

If many American families are not feeling the security of these three primary needs, how on earth can they extend beyond to needs such as security of family and friends, self esteem, creativity and morality?   

Consumerism has become an unsustainable replacement for what we believe to be higher levels of needs (I've got a Hummer, therefore I am respected).

A new American Dream has to morph out of this crisis and the climate crisis. A dream that focuses on secure shelter, secure health care, secure employment and a secure future for our children.

Today at the International Plowing Match in Teeswater, ON (http://www.ipm2008.ca/), I got to see one of the most joyous shows I've ever seen: 8 tractors doing a square dance, with country music, a caller and a huge, responsive audience. Using antique Farmall tractors, the men who were dressed as country dancers (females were complete with wigs & skirts) wowed the audience with their driving precision and hilarious antics. If you've never seen one, try looking it up on YouTube, and you'll see some great examples. The IPM does an amazing job of promoting farmers and the importance of agriculture.

Now at home, I still smile just thinking about it.

But, as always, reality barges in. Although the farmers are feeding cities and taking losses, we just watch the farmers dance. 

Last night as I presented my "Inconvenient Truth" presentation and again came to a slide that include in every presentation.  The old addage that history repeats itself can be considered very appropriate as when I think of Winston Churchill in 1936  saying that we were in a period of consequences.

 We are now in another period of consequences.  We could take time to continue to debate the issued of environment, environment vs economy, and other issues related to the enviroment or we as an energized population we can take our surroundings in hand and deal with Global Warming. The time for action is now and we must not let the politicians forget.

 The media and our politicians have started to vere away from talking the environment and we cannot let them forget. 

Get Active. Get Questions out to the organizers of your local debates.  Ask questions and talk to your friend.

 We Are in a "period of consequences."  Lets not miss the opportunity to create solutions. 

Have you ever believed in the law of karma~you get back what you put out? I've thought about it and don't believe it, but sometimes I wonder... 

Texas brought forward the one president who has ignored and smeared the climate change issue, now poor Houston is being thrashed by Hurricane Ike. Coincidence? I feel so sorry for the people whose lives have been shattered, and I do believe that if around the world we had acted 15 years ago on climate change, we wouldn't be seeing the same strong storms like Ike.

Some people wonder whether extreme weather events will get people to wake up and face the reality of long term effects of climate change and the importance of dealing with it right away. I had always hoped it wouldn't take a lot of devastation to get serious about it, but maybe the wake up call is happening around the world, and we will all have to deal with the consequences. I sure hope Canadians wake up in this election.

This reminds me of an article I found from around 1990, when I was just finishing high school, quoting Raffi when he was on his environmental tour. It's a good quote to leave on:

"Now the Earth is dying and we are all endangered. We have 10 short years in this turnaround decade of the 90s to reverse the trends of global warming, the No. 1 threat to life on earth. if we fail to act now, we may not have a future worth living."