Elections Canada and Climate | Friends of Science Calgary

Stéphane Perrault
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
Elections Canada

30 Victoria Street

Gatineau, Quebec

K1A 0M6

August 27, 2019

Dear M. Stéphane Perrault,

Re: ENGO charity spending during the election period and reference to climate change;

Thank you to Elections Canada for recognizing that climate change has become a political issue. Since environmental non-governmental organizations/charities have disproportionate financial resources, media power, and social influence, they significantly sway public opinion on a highly contentious and partisan issue.

As outlined below, the environmental charities’ claims are proving to be highly controversial. Canadian scientists, and those from around the world, have very strong evidence that human industrial activity is not the primary cause of global warming. Equally troubling is the political efforts by these charities to create a “climate change emergency” where one does not exist.

Scientists have recently called for the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) SR15 report to calm public fears as there is no ‘climate deadline.’^[1] Plenty of evidence refutes the claims of the Canadian Climate Change Report (CCR2019).^[2] “Climate emergency” is a theme dreamt up by a clinical psychologist to re-brand the issue, not a scientist.^[3] Global media are making coordinated efforts on this faulty theme through “Covering Climate Now.”[4] [5] This press-propaganda campaign is contrary to all principles of Freedom of the Press and democracy.

The much vaunted 2°Celsius target (to allegedly keep earth’s temperature stable) was arbitrarily set by an economist, long before any adequate scientific or satellite assessments of global climate.^[6] More importantly, there is no consensus that human industrial activity is mainly responsible for global warming or climate change. Faulty premises lead to poor public policy on climate as outlined in our report.^[7]

Here are some key points in this highly political topic.

The Science on Climate is Complex and Uncertain

As the IPCC itself stated in the 3^rd Assessment report: “In climate modelling and research, we should recognize that we are dealing with a coupled, non-linear, chaotic system and that therefore long-term prediction of future climate states is not possible.” The IPCC reported in 2013 there had been 15 years of hiatus in global warming; despite a significant rise in carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. This led Dr. Judith Curry and other scientists to affirm that: “Carbon dioxide is not the control knob that can fine tune climate.”^[8] There is no consensus about the cause of climate change.^[9]

Environmental Charities have more money than political parties combined

Few Canadians realize that ENGO, tax-subsidized charities have more financial power than political parties combined. From 2000-2018, the top 40 ENGOs and EnviroLaw counterparts received almost $11.4 billion in revenues. Total revenues received by all four main federal political parties over the period was about $631 million. Revenues received by the ENGOs and their EnviroLaw counterparts over the period were over 18 times the revenues received by all federal political parties. ^[10] Our four reports on the ENGO industry show that their political, social and financial power is overwhelming.^[11]

Environmental Charities have been funded by foreign interests that also fund and influence academics and the media. These ENGOs have claimed that climate change is a “crisis” for over a decade now, and many of them have been funded by, or are party to, the foreign “Tar Sands Campaign”^[12] ^[13] or the ClimateWorks “Design to Win”^[14] program. This is a global plan by foreign green billionaires to create a global cap and trade system, carbon pricing and to put $12 trillion in their vested interest renewables (wind and solar) on the power grid, largely by demarketing the use of coal, natural gas and oil/oilsands.^[15] ^[16] Everything in the modern world, including wind turbines and solar panels, requires fossil fuels in order to exist. Renewables cannot support even the most basic energy needs of society.^[17] As Ottawa energy policy consultant, Robert Lyman explains, we need to ‘transition to reality.’^[18] Prof. Emeritus Dr. Vaclav Smil, a world-renown energy expert, says: “Energy Revolution? More like a crawl.”^[19] The push for renewables relies almost entirely on the claim that the use of fossil fuels will lead to a climate catastrophe, even though the scientific evidence does not support this claim. The IPCC, in correspondence to us, confirm that they have no peer-reviewed studies supporting the claim that renewables are a suitable replacement for conventional energy supply.^[20] As noted in Dr. Matthew Nisbet’s paper on the ClimateWorks partners, the green billionaires also fund most academics and most non-profit journals.^[21] ENGOs lead Canadians down a path to danger.

Can Canada survive climate change policy?

Climate change policies have negatively affected Canada.^[22] The undue influence of ENGOs and their financial power and associated vested interests have driven this agenda. Are other nations meeting their Paris Agreement targets? No. Most have no intention of doing so. Thus, Canada – a vast, resource-rich nation – puts it natural wealth and domestic sovereignty at risk for ‘green’ ideology alone.^[23] Will Canada’s contribution make a difference to global climate? No. It is a case of Futile Folly – “…extraordinarily expensive and dangerous political grandstanding…. Canadians deserve better.” ^[24] Will Canadians get hundreds of dollars in rebates annually from carbon taxes? Not compared to the hundreds of dollars they will lose. The Parliamentary Budget Office notes that the carbon price will have to rise from the 2022 price of $50/tonne to $102/t by 2030 in order for Canada to reach its self-imposed target of a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.^[25] Competitor nations like China have a $2/t carbon tax, the world average is $8/t, and the US, our largest trading partner has a $0/t carbon tax. Presently, Canadian fuel taxes alone equal a $192/t carbon tax. Yet, the ENGO charity Ecojustice wants the unattainable Paris GHG targets enshrined in law.^[26]

You have received an open letter from a large group of scientists^[27] in support of ENGO advertising on climate change; claiming it is not a political issue and not debatable

This, in fact, is the crux of the matter before you. Climate science is not settled. As shown, climate change has become a highly politicized issue. No matter the number of signatories, as Dr. Nir Shaviv has said: “Science is not a democracy. Science is about evidence.” [28]

Natural causes have always had a major role in climate change. It is clear that the sun is the main direct and indirect driver of climate change, not you, not CO₂.^[29] Canadian ENGOs have far too much financial and media power and are rife with single-minded ideology that is not representative of the robust evidence of natural influence on climate being greater than that of humankind. Climate change science must be debated. Powerful, foreign-or-vested interest-funded ENGOs must not take the spotlight.

Friends of Science Society is an apolitical organization that advocates for open, civil debate on climate science and related energy policies. Thank you for the review of our submission.

Sincerely,

Friends of Science Society

P.O. Box 23167, Mission P.O.
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2S 3B1
Toll-free Telephone: 1-888-789-9597
Web: friendsofscience.org
E-mail: contact(at)friendsofscience(dot)org

Media: media(at)friendsofscience(dot)org
Bilingual Web: climatechange101.ca

^[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0543-4.epdf?shared_access_token=IemqaDXjp59Xe4vx9SYpMtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PHAItqILlRm_HHBm_TdKN2W4fclucYeFPP7FPSpe4YZCMx6e3jOvyKFNEN4tDVEsxhypkjCeaXw5HrYv5x1N4z6OOPAlKiCRowdURrPb_LMA%3D%3D

^[2] https://blog.friendsofscience.org/2019/05/01/climate-change-your-mind-rebutting-canadian-governments-climate-report/

^[3] https://www.theclimatemobilization.org/emergency-mode

[4] http://joannenova.com.au/2019/08/3-weeks-to-go-til-climate-propaganda-week-starts/

[5]https://www.prweb.com/releases/_covering_climate_now_misrepresents_ipcc_sr15_report_as_climate_scientists_call_for_ipcc_to_publicly_condemn_media_hysteria_says_friends_of_science/prweb16472599.htm

^[6] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2018-02-08/two-degree-delusion

^[7] https://blog.friendsofscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Faulty-Premises-Poor-Public-Policy-on-Climate-Oct-30-2018-FINAL.pdf

^[8] https://curryja.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/curry-senatetestimony-2014-final.pdf

^[9] https://friendsofscience.org/assets/documents/97_Consensus_Myth.pdf

^[10] Both Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nature Conservancy Canada annually receive higher revenues than all the major federal political parties; a large portion of the funding to these organizations is from the federal government. The revenue received by the Tides organization alone is more than the combined revenues of Canada’s two largest federal political parties, the Liberal Party of Canada and the Conservative Party of Canada over the period. The David Suzuki Foundation’s average annual revenues exceed the annual revenues of the federal New Democratic Party. – Our four reports compiled by Robert Lyman reveal the breathtaking scope of financial power and influence of the ENGO sector. https://blog.friendsofscience.org/2019/05/07/environmental-charities-a-compilation-of-reports-on-their-finances-power-and-implications-for-canada/

^[11] https://blog.friendsofscience.org/2019/05/07/environmental-charities-a-compilation-of-reports-on-their-finances-power-and-implications-for-canada/

^[12] https://www.counterpunch.org/2013/10/16/how-tides-canada-controls-the-secret-north-american-tar-sands-coalition/

^[13] http://www.offsettingresistance.ca/TarSandsCoalition-StrategyPaper2008.pdf

^[14] http://www.climateworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/design_to_win_final_8_31_07.pdf

^[15] https://web.northeastern.edu/matthewnisbet/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Nisbet2018_ClimatePhilanthropy_WIREsClimateChange_Final.pdf

^[16] ClimateWorks Foundation – WikiLeaks https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/fileid/57594/16165

^[17] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/mrs-energy-and-sustainability/article/lessons-from-technology-development-for-energy-and-sustainability/2D40F35844FEFEC37FDC62499DDBD4DC/core-reader

^[18] https://www.thegwpf.org/energy-policy-needs-to-transition-to-reality/

^[19] https://youtu.be/5guXaWwQpe4

^[20] https://blog.friendsofscience.org/2015/11/05/a-matter-of-public-interest-on-the-ipcc-does-it-recommend-or-not-recommend-that-is-the-question/

^[21] https://web.northeastern.edu/matthewnisbet/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Nisbet2018_ClimatePhilanthropy_WIREsClimateChange_Final.pdf

^[22] https://blog.friendsofscience.org/2017/05/10/can-canada-survive-climate-change-policy/