Article content continued

You got into this mess by retweeting a piece by Ross McKitrick, who “Canada’s National Observer” calls “an economist who has said he does not believe in climate change.” Which is absurd. I know Ross and one reason he’s skeptical of dramatic human influence on climate is he knows how much climate has always changed naturally. Don’t you?

Also, Ross described a scientist who got mobbed for challenging orthodoxy. Didn’t you realize you would too, and prepare yourself? You’re a professional politician. How can you be worse at it than me?

You’re a professional politician. How can you be worse at it than me?

To be sure, you got the velvet glove re-education option. Katharine Hayhoe even praised you for grovelling up real good after you retweeted her arguments. But don’t think you’re rehabilitated.

You’ve been in public life too long to convince people your views on climate were formed, or dramatically reshaped, by one brief conversation with this particular usual suspect. Or that you were unaware of her views until she tweeted them at you and you went oh duh human influence how obvious.

So you need to stop babbling. At your re-education camp graduation ceremony you tweeted “like most I believe that emissions cause climate change.” Oh really? You think “emissions” caused the Medieval Warm Period? The Little Ice Age? The Karoo? Just human emissions? Do they contribute, or “cause” it? Or was that tweet just the verbal equivalent of the ink squid eject before fleeing?

Photo by Texas Tech University

If so, it’s already dispersing. People are predictably asking whether your boss shares your views. And his swatting the question aside by attacking the prime minister for climate hypocrisy is as ineffective as it is banal even given Mr. Trudeau’s feeble carbon tax and constant hopping into jet airplanes instead of Skyping. But do you think people will now believe your party really believes in man-made climate change and the need to stop using fossil fuels? Or just that you’re cowardly liars? Not a good look.