Biking into a wall

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by Patrick Lejtenyi

A group of energy conservationists cycling across the country has discovered what more experienced activists have long known: talking to bureaucrats is a pain in the ass. The Climate Change Caravan, which left Tofino, B.C., in May, rolled into Ottawa last week to present their findings and criticisms to a bunch of bureaucrats from foreign affairs, health and the environment ministries, as well as the Climate Change Secretariat. They were politely listened to and politely dismissed.

"I was a bit disappointed," says cyclist Graeme Verhulst, a 19-year-old University of Victoria student, in Montreal this week with 30 other Caravan members and their big, vegetable oil-burning red bus. "We met with senior bureaucrats but found they were not addressing the problem in a fundamental way. They were working on increasing ethanol in gasoline or asking motorists to pump up their tires. These are small steps to reach insignificant targets."

Backed by data from the David Suzuki Foundation and recommendations from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the cyclists "presented the bureaucrats with documents showing them how governments could limit greenhouse gas emissions. We also had our own experiences of what Canadians feel about the issue and criticisms of their current plans."

To little avail, Verhulst says. "They found a way to defend their position, saying it had to be this way for whatever reason. One official said we couldn't address climate change simply as Canadians, even though we're the third highest producers of greenhouse gas emissions--after the United States and Luxembourg."