The commercial has aired enough times that most readers will have seen the little kid in the tub with a penguin. The idea being many Canadians keep their houses so cool that penguins would feel right at home.
Whether that series of commercials on saving energy, or simple economic costs are hitting home, recent surveys conclude that Canadians overwhelmingly want attention paid to climate change and energy conservation. Currently, fuel is at an all-time high and petroleum, through years of engineering and chemical modifications, has become the indispensible product. Everything, from car components to fertilizer for crop production, relies on products from crude oil. Remarkably, the cost to generate many of those by-products is dear, and has a direct impact on the environment at the time of refining. Tar sand oil extraction is a prime example, where thousands of gallons of water are used to release precious oil from crude. That particular point was recognized as fact by numerous big city mayors in the United States, who were looking to penalize the likes of Alberta for being polluters on a grand scale.
It makes great sense to conserve energy and, as Canadians attest, the time is right to deal with environmental issues. The great caution remains however to do so without increasing taxes. That might be a mission impossible, and despite Liberal leader Stephane Dion’s claim that his carbon tax would be neutral, meaning no increase in taxes, Canadians have every right to be skeptical. When, if ever, has a tax been revenue neutral?
Many of us begrudge the high cost of gas for our cars and soon it will be heating costs for our homes, but maybe these increases are the impetus needed to cause a collective head shake. We are a wasteful lot and much of that has to do with being wasteful because we can be.
While heading home on the weekend, we passed a Model A car. The four wheels turned, it drove about 50km per hour, the driver looked content enough, and the four cylinder motor purred along like a sewing machine. Over the course of the last 100 years since the horseless carriage emerged, how much fuel has been wasted on land yachts, or enormous gas guzzlers? It is a little irrelevant now, but just think if fuel were not so cheap for so long, would manufacturers have sold their wares so easily? How much gas was wasted satisfying egos and self aggrandizement over the real purpose of vehicles – which is getting from point A to point B?
We greatly fear the pending pressure on the agricultural community to produce even greater volumes of commodities – note our use of the word “commodities.” Crops are grown for food production and competing with that essential need is the new program for bio-fuels, which itself is in need of greater debate as to its positive or negative benefits to society. The commodities themselves are traded and bought no differently than other resources, despite food being essential to life. Higher fuel prices add to operating costs and the cost of fertilizer will continue to be staggering. We are not sure how the economics of that will work for Canadians in the longer term.
While the summer heat has a way of taking Canadian minds off the price of heating fuel, we know that come winter, there will be an incredible strain on homeowners to keep their homes heated. Typically, urban dwellers can budget around $150 to 200 per month on an annualized plan. For ease of discussion let’s call it $2,000 per year to heat a home. Rural homeowners can easily double that number. Those costs are in jeopardy of jumping a few hundred dollars extra per year. Most consumers are finding it hard enough to pay increasingly high bills, let alone be hit with that pending problem in the winter. It seems to us that stores and contractors should be very busy now, with homeowners and landlords retrofitting poorly insulated homes.
Of course, like many other things in life, what should be done and what gets done are two different things. There are some government programs to help homeowners put in new heating units and replace electricity-sucking appliances, but many find it difficult to come up with their share for the program. It is easier to put off until tomorrow what needs done today.
If Canadians are up for action, each level of government, including utilities, owes it to residents to develop programs and incentives to conserve energy. The simple fact that other countries continue to squander resources and negatively impact their environment, should be no solace for inaction. Change begins at home.
