The Green Party comes to Town

    "There`s so much pollution in the air now that if it weren`t for our lungs there`d be no place to put it all." Robert Orben

I`m driving  the 401 outside Toronto at a cool 140km/hr. My Honda Sports Coupe slides past a couple of Lexus Suv`s and grabs the draft of a 500 series BMW starting to push 150. This is adrenaline alley and anyone with a real car (horsepower baby) is high on performance. Maybe I`m just one of the drones just rushing my fate, but get out of my way because this car performs and I am "one" with the road. I turn on my premium audio system and tune in CBC radio.

They`re interviewing Canadian Green Party Leader, Elizabeth May, my favorite tree hugger. This lady just published a book called "How to Save the World in Your Spare Time" and I`m sensing a karma crisis here. Elizabeth May thinks and speaks like no other politician in Canada today. She stands out as head and shoulders above the herd.

In Canada the herd is led by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper who dismantled the previously "unused" Liberal environmental policy and replaced it with "no policy." This was not politically astute in this era of greenmania and he has since reacted to suicidal polls and returned to the previously "unused" Liberal Party environmental policy. I think he`s going to start wearing green clothes and paint his political lawn signs green to boot. I guess he thinks the average voter is deaf, dumb and blind. Hope he`s wrong? Then we have Stephan Dion, the Liberal Leader, who previously championed the "unused" Liberal environmental policy as Minister of Environment and now shows great passion for his dog "Kyoto." That`s a literal dog I`m talking about here. I personally support the Kyoto process but I haven`t named my dog Kyoto. And I haven`t failed to meet Kyoto targets like Dion did as Environment Minister. But maybe we can trust him this time? And finally, the Canadian non-alternative Party, the NDP, are lead by Jack who? Layton. He smiles a lot and kisses Harper`s ass in his spare time trying to maintain a minimal presence in Ottawa. I don`t think so.

These guys aren`t connecting with me but May talks about changing the world. She wants to do for the Environment what "Tommy Douglas" did for Health Care in Canada . She wants to influence the process more than she wants power. I think I believe her. But she`s talking carbon emissions`s as the scourge of the earth and takes me to the mirror of my soul. Fast cars = more carbon emission's. Shite! Maybe Layton will let me keep my car. Maybe she`s wrong?

I`m convinced to go to the theatre and watch the new Al Gore movie,"an Inconvenient Truth". I`m moved by his argument and admit that his scientific presentation of hypothesis, passion and probability are a pretty sad song for the future of terra firma.  I buy the DVD and watch it again and again and pass it on to friends. I find out that all profits from the book and movie will go back into Gore`s movement to educate the planet about Climate Change. This is tough. I think I believe this guy like I do Elizabeth May.

I`m a car junky (I watched "Vanishing Point" 4 times and still watch "Bullet" like a heroin addict) and Motorcycles, don`t get me started. I grew up dreaming about girls (kind of irrelevant), cars and "freedom of the open road". But I`m part of this problem and I kind of go for taking responsibilty for my impact on the world. Now, every time I cross 120km/hr I`m thinking about Polar bears and Icebergs bigger than Prince Edward Island.  

"Because we don`t think about future generations, they will never forget us." Henrik Tikkanen

I need to focus, I need help. So I read the "Silent World" of Jaques Cousteau for the fourth time.  My winters are for the tropics, diving with sea turtles and big fish. Coral Reef is like the "Mecca" for me. It gives me a major break from reality. Travel time synchronizes my planet. But more research shows that carbon emissions are affecting the "silent world" on too many levels to ignore. Bleached and dying coral reefs, rising acidity of oceans and possible effect on fish populations. More questions and probabilities.

So I ramble through fast cars and coral reef and lament the crashing planet Eco system because of Elizabeth May and Al Gore. They`re a burr on the ass of my conscience. Thank Gaea for people like them!

They`ve got me back on track. I`m part of the solution but I`ve been sucking this tit for a long time and I may need rehab. And I just wish they`d make a Honda Coupe that goes 140km/hr and gets 80 miles to the gallon.