General

Canada wins six ignoble awards at UN Climate Change talks

Canada has earned the dubious distinction of winning several awards for being the most obstructionist country at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poznan, Poland. The “Fossil of the Day” is awarded to a country that is viewed as having the most backward policies on global warming. To date, Canada has won a total of six of these ignoble awards.

“This means we are obstructing the negotiations that are essential to save the planet from climate change, said Stephen Hazell, the executive director of the Ottawa-based Sierra Club of Canada. “Canada is really an embarrassment internationally, because we have been consistently opposing progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

The event began as a touch of simple comedy by environmental activists, with the flag of an offending nation planted into a small mound of coal against a pastiche of the “Jurassic Park” movie poster. In Poznan, though, it snowballed into an Oscar-style ceremony held outside complete with a tuxedoed presenter, and a modified silver cup with a green plastic dinosaur on top.

Environmentalists say Canada is obstructing progress through its unequivocal support of the Alberta oil sands. Jim Prentice says that any agreement must strike a balance between the economy and the environment. National regulations of greenhouse gases have been delayed, and they will be “influenced strongly” by the new legislation expected under Obama, he said.

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