Letter to the editor of the Ottawa Citizen

Date: July 07, 2003

Subject: Sound science, June 23.

Congratulations to the Citizen for this editorial. The federal government has continually ignored the concerns raised by leading climate and Earth-science experts in this country, and has repeatedly stated that the Kyoto Protocol's science is "solid."

The government has called the dissenting experts "fringe scientists" practicing "outlier science at the margins of the issue." Such statements are completely false, yet were used often during the government's ill-informed rush to ratify the Kyoto Protocol before Christmas.

It is in fact the unique time-frame perspective of Earth scientists that permit the debate on climate change to be put into a proper historical perspective.

On Nov. 25, 2002, I, as well as 29 of my climate and Earth science colleagues, sent Prime Minister Jean Chrétien an open letter in which we "call[ed] on the Government of Canada to delay a decision on the ratification of the Kyoto Accord until after a thorough and comprehensive consultation is conducted with non-governmental climate specialists."

Mr. Chrétien ignored us entirely and ratified based merely on a "gut feeling," as Environment Minister David Anderson told the editorial board of the Citizen later in December.

Climate scientists now hope Paul Martin will take a more open-minded view of the situation if, as is widely expected, he becomes the next prime minister. On June 4, 46 climate and Earth science experts, the largest group of whom are Canadian, sent an open letter to Mr. Martin in which we said, "... we believe that a high priority should be placed on ... conducting wide-ranging consultations with non-governmental climate scientists as soon as possible in order to properly consider the range of informed opinion pertaining to the science of Kyoto."

Let's hope your excellent editorial helps prompt our "prime minister in waiting" to take this issue far more seriously than the current government.

Dr. Fred Michel 
Associate Professor 
Institute of Environmental Science and Department of Earth Sciences (arctic regions specialist) 
Carleton University, Ottawa


 

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