I've got a beef with climate poseurs

National Post, 28 April 2021

One expects enviro-posing from governments. But a burger chain?

A great deal of hamburger advertising is more interested in what the cow ate than what the customer might. Grass fed. Canadian raised. No antibiotics. I was half expecting that, pandemic wise, we would be advised that the cows wore masks while chewing their cud.

I was not then altogether surprised when, for Earth Day, an email arrived from Harvey’s, the hamburger chain, advising me of the latest initiative in its social activism portfolio. I am, when it comes to fast-food hamburgers, more or less a Harvey’s man.

I am rather old school on that; it’s because I like how their burgers taste and find the price to be good value. I am old school on that, too, usually using a coupon; hence the email, which delivers them electronically. Besides their burgers, I know that Harvey’s is a Canadian firm, which I also favour. I generally do not follow their suite of socially-conscious projects.

For Earth Day, Harvey’s advised that, for the next few weeks, it would divert a portion of its revenues to tree planting. I expect a goodly amount of enviro-posing from governments; now faux climate activism is catching on at the drive-thru window.

Earth Day 2021 was marked by a windy climate summit hosted by President Joe Biden. The Canadian government announced that it would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. That’s up (down?) from the previous 30 per cent cut.

Climate targets are fun that way. The base level is set sometime in the past and the target date in the future, resulting in no end of permutations to tweak as the years go along. What about 27 per cent by 2035 on 2012 levels? Or 16 per cent by 2027 on 2017 levels? Which is better? Which is worse? What is just carbon-laden hot air?

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