Chad Clark's Open Journal : 2008-02-22
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February 22, 2008 :
1) A "Nature" editorial is critical of Canadian federal government.
The Globe and Mail article reads:
In a strongly worded editorial, entitled Science in Retreat and published
in yesterday's issue, the British journal Nature wrote that while
Canada's researchers consistently rank among the world's finest, the same
cannot be said for the federal government's position on science and
research.
...
the editorial lambastes the government's decision to move the office of
chemist Arthur Carty - appointed in 2004 by then-prime-minister Paul
Martin as Canada's independent national science adviser - away from the
Prime Minister's Office to Industry Canada. Mr. Harper's government, the
editorial says, set the office up to "fail" by giving it an "abysmal"
budget and a "vague" mandate. The government then told Dr. Carty he was
no longer needed as science adviser, and Dr. Carty offered his
resignation.
...
[Dr. Carty said] "The editorial is factual. I don't have much more to
say, other than I think the facts are pretty right."
Here is a link to the Nature editorial. Parts of it read:
Since prime minister Stephen Harper came to power, his government has
been sceptical of the science on climate change and has backed away from
Canada's Kyoto commitment. In January, it muzzled Environment Canada's
scientists, ordering them to route all media enquires through Ottawa to
control the agency's media message
...
Harper sees himself as the leader of a 'global energy powerhouse' and is
committing Canada to a fossil-fuel economy. More than 40 companies have a
stake in mining and upgrading the bitumen from the oil sands in Alberta
and churning out 1.2 million barrels a day. This activity generates three
times as much greenhouse gas as conventional oil drilling. Emissions from
Canada's oil and gas industry have risen by 42% since 1990.
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