As Ottawa is about to be besieged by a convoy of angry Albertans, arguing that pipelines are a necessity for the Canadian economy, the spirits are high. Even a wandering eye through the comment section of that article reflects the mixed emotions Canadians have on this issue, as well as a lifestyle I personally can’t begin to understand (which would make sense – oilfield workers and creatives aren’t usually peas in a pod).
One commenter, Robert Morris, goes: “The conservative solution to carbon emissions is to form a truck convoy and drive to Ottawa…..”. This seems to be a popular narrative, as another commenter was pointing out that the gofundme page for the convoy was all anonymous, $100 donations, apparently a hallmark of what the original poster called “corporate astroturfing” – a quip I salute relentlessly.
To be honest, one has to question your judgement if your solution to an impending economic hardship is to gather a convoy of guzzlers and drive them across a continent in the age of electrification of transportation. We get it – Oil is still a big earner, and more importantly, a big deal to provinces that elected to invest themselves massively into it, but trying to force a whole nation to swallow a pipeline at this point is like allowing any of our power companies to just overrun any city and build a dam over them, just cause “there’s market for the outcoming power”, or maybe like the possibility for the Tories to fund the francophone university – It’s not happening.
Be realistic – demand the impossible.
(The article in question can be found here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/truck-convoy-red-deer-calgary-regina-ottawa-protest-1.5019118)