The National Post recently asked David Suzuki and a number of other prominent Canadians to share their thoughts on how Canada could create a new New Deal. Here's David's contribution:
It’s time to put an end to the false dichotomy between environment and economy. A healthy environment and a healthy economy go hand in hand. We need a green stimulus package for the budget.
Any government spending to stimulate the economy should come with green strings attached. Bailouts to flagging industries? Conditional on them putting more R&D into energy-efficient products. Infrastructure spending? Make sure it goes to things such as public transit and retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency.
The government should also recognize the value of protecting nature and the “natural capital” it provides. Forests, for example, store massive amounts of carbon that would contribute to increased global warming if released into the atmosphere. And they provide services such as erosion and landslide prevention, flood control and water filtration. So, how about an economy that internalizes the many “services” performed by nature rather than ignoring them as externalities?
Most of all, the government should rethink its energy policy and hop on the green-energy train. Relying on diminishing and finite supplies of fossil fuels is not only bad economic policy, it’s bad for the environment. Other countries have boosted employment and economies by investing in and offering incentives for green energy technologies, such as solar, wind and wave power, and renewable fuel sources.
The United States, under the incoming administration of president-elect Barack Obama, has finally seen the (energy-efficient) light. It’s time that we realized protecting the environment is also the best way to stimulate the economy and to keep it sustainable long into the future.
Tim Wallace
Im in total agreement with your comments. Its about time people started making a change that doesn't allow the oil and gas business to hold the entire world hostage. Do you think for a second that the minute the economy does start to turn positive that oil isn't going to 200 per barrel. This time they have taken production out of the system to keep the price up. When it turns that means huge shortages. We have the big oil people on their knees now is the time to deal the death blow. We have the resources the brains and the ingenuity to make a change now. Hey did following the same old pattern work for us. Not exactly in fact it put us in the predicament we are in. Lets not let that happen again. Now is the time no more excuses while we have about 2 years to turn things around before things go back to the same old way. We can demand the change and we need to do it now. Show urgency and get it done or suffer the consequences.
lora bruncke
I hope you sent this posting to Mr. Flaherty!
I can't believe our government is naive enough to think we can shop our way out of this crisis. If I hear one more news caster mention consumer confidence I will laugh!!
What the heck do they want us to buy??
I thought this crash was just in time to save the environment and a perfect opportunity to rethink our economy and establish better ways living.
Again I thank Dr. David Suzuki and his foundation for not giving up on us!!
Harry
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/27/james-hansens-former-nasa-supervisor-declares-himself-a-skeptic-says-hansen-embarrassed-nasa-was-never-muzzled/
It's very important that people get the other side of what is being said about global warming. Given that Suzuki has said that politicians, persons in authority, should be imprisoned for denying man made global warming, would Suzuki accept the consequences of perpetrating a fraud? Not likely.
Jorge Ovalle
Dear Mr. Susuki,
I have seen and herd your daughter's speach when she was 12. Thank you and your wife for rising up such a wonderful human beign. I would highly apreciate if you can send her the following link to a page that is self explanatory, the "The World March for Peace and Non-Violence" : http://www.marchamundial.org/en
Many thanks and our best wishes of Peace, Force and Joy!!
lora bruncke
I would like money to buy kids custom shoes. I just talked to my father-in-law, who is Danish, and he said they had a government shoemaker when he lived there half a century ago! What a concept! Less surgery required! Money saved on future hospital bills! I think I will email my MP!
Matthew
Although the government may not have put allot of money into green sources of energy, I feel that we as citizens should take this action on our own. Certainly the cost savings from generating your own power either by wind or solar can create savings for years to come and not during this economic situation. We can still bee a world leader by spreading the green message to friends. Once enough people jump on the band wagon so to speak I am positive the government will follow. www.mjshop.biz
Gustavo
Hi, I knew about this foundation few days ago, my uncle sent me an email about Severn Suzuki's speech in 1992, and I was shock when I saw the video, so many truth one after other, when I was a child I had this idea because my imagination, but people around here are too blind because the money, they just want win more no matter how, anyway, I hope you found the intentions of the theories, the goal of the hypothesis... http://guadarismo.googlepages.com/memories-en.html
Sorry my English...
Kate
Hello Dr Suzuki - I'm a big fan of your work - here is a letter I wrote to my local newspaper that never got published but that I'd like to get out there anyway.
Since the economy started to plummet, concern for the environment went down the drain. This, in a way, is understandable. The human brain is wired to respond to short-term, dramatic catastrophes. Long-term, gradual changes such as environmental deterioration, even if they will be more harmful in the long run, are put on the back burner.
Long-term thinking may not be very abundant in economics. But does anyone ever wonder what would happen if our natural resources were too depleted to sustain more economic growth? What would happen to the forest industry if thousands of trees died due to dehydration, invasive species, and loss of biodiversity? What would happen to the fishing industry if it fished above capacity for so long that the fish populations crashed? What would happen if we kept our economy centered around fossil fuels, which, as finite resources, are bound to run out sooner or later?
We should stop trying to "balance" the economy and the environment as if they must always work against each other. We should look at the problem in a new way. Imagine what would happen if we threw our collective energy towards developing environmental technologies - creating jobs as well as sustainability. We could solve both of these problems at once.