Iceland’s Slippery Slope on Climate Change

Convivium, 22 August 2019

Father Raymond de Souza tempers this week’s dust-up over Elections Canada limiting partisan climate debate with the reminder that elsewhere only anti-warmers are welcome.

The recent fracas about what Elections Canada considers “partisan” speech in regard to climate change got me thinking about Iceland and how advocates talk – or don’t talk – about the changing climate. 

In regard to the great climate debates, I often think about Iceland. I visited a few summers back. It’s a fascinating place and super eco-friendly in a very Scandinavian sort of way. The whole country may be carbon-neutral for all I know, as it sits atop more or less an active volcano, and there is an endless supply of very hot water coming to the surface. The challenge for Iceland is to cool down the water it draws out of the ground for use in homes. 

Plenty of Icelandic buildings – floor to ceiling glass to capture as much sunlight as possible in the dark months – appear to be very energy inefficient. But it doesn’t matter, as through the radiators flows scalding hot water from the underground springs – no limit, no cost, no carbon emissions. It’s ideal but not readily transferable for those parts of the world that are not atop volcanoes.

Continue reading at Convivium:
https://www.convivium.ca/articles/icelands-slippery-slope-on-climate-change