When I hear people saying that we don’t need to do anything more to reduce carbon emissions it is tempting to label them as “climate change deniers.” We often hear that term bandied about in reference to political parties that are fighting against carbon prices or arguing in favour of the continued use of oil, gas, and coal as primary energy sources. But within my experience “climate change deniers” are actually pretty uncommon, at least in Canada.  There are only a few stubborn souls left who refuse to accept the overwhelming scientific evidence and still claim that human activities are not having an impact on the global climate.

As I sat in the overflow room listening to the representatives of Northern Pulp defend themselves against the many questions of the MLAs from the Agriculture and Fisheries Standing Committee on Feb 16th, I watched the faces of the fishers sitting around me and felt their helpless frustration at the plans to pipe effluent from the mill out into the Northumberland Strait.