The CEO of Suncor Rick Kruger, sits in his Calgary office on July 4.Shaun Robinson/The Globe and Mail
Sorry, not sorry
Re “Suncor CEO Rich Kruger talks politics of oil and gas and the company’s future” (Report on Business, July 20): Suncor CEO Rich Kruger says his company shouldn’t waste too much time on the transition to renewables. Ninety-nine per cent of his work force focuses on “the fundamentals of today’s business” – that is, oil. Earth to Mr. Kruger! Have you heard of climate change?
To quote directly from the world’s top climate experts, this crisis “presents the most significant challenge humanity has ever faced.” It threatens human civilization as a whole and every living being on this planet, and it’s happening now.
At the core of it is a simple truth that many Canadians, including Mr. Kruger, seem unable to accept: We need to stop burning oil and gas. Period. According to the International Energy Agency, demand would need to go down more than 75 per cent by 2050.
Instead, Mr. Kruger wants to double down on oil, arguing that “getting today right” is best for Suncor’s future. But can we talk about the future of the human race?
Shirley Barnea Montreal
We have just come through the planet’s first full year of 1.5 degrees above preindustrial temperatures, the threshold the scientific community has identified as the limit to avoid the most disastrous effects of greenhouse gas-induced climate change. At the same time, oil and gas production has continued to increase, around the world and in Canada, to new record levels.
Canada’s response to the climate crisis includes efforts to reduce our country’s emissions but does not include the emissions caused by the oil and gas that we extract and export, even though those now surpass our entire emissions count.
There is clearly a significant delusion at play here that will prove fatal to any effort to prevent climate catastrophe. It was very disappointing to see The Globe’s ROB championing the new Suncor CEO for mining this delusion for all it is worth.
Richard Marshall Toronto
Safekeeping
Re “How the Catholic Church can get reparation – and reconciliation – right” (Opinion, July 20): When demanding reparation of Indigenous artifacts from the Vatican Museums, one inconvenient fact is often ignored.
Mainly, these artifacts exist today only because they were carefully curated and stored by caring museum staff half a world away, as no comparable museums were ever established by their communities of origin.
If not for the Vatican, these artifacts would most likely have been lost to history.
David Morgan Ottawa
Politicians and babies
Re “Close the border and squeeze out more babies: The Trump circle’s curious fertility cult” (Opinion, July 20): Doug Saunders’s excellent analysis left out one key word: misogyny.
It’s not just that the Trumpists want to close the fertility gap. They want to keep women at home having babies – out of higher education, out of the work force, out of places where decisions are made. How else to interpret the revocation of Roe v. Wade by the Trump-loaded Supreme Court? Could women’s rights be targeted any more clearly?
Global evidence shows unequivocally that birth rates fall when women are educated and have higher work-force participation, but these effects can be mitigated through policies that help with the unequal workload women consequently bear. Donald Trump and his supporters may worry about the birth rate, but they worry about gender equality more.
Linda Hershkovitz Toronto
Out in the open
Re “Drink a beer in the park. It’s good for you – and for society” (Opinion, July 20): Benjamin Leszcz’s Opinion piece in Saturday’s Globe and Mail is the best thing I have ever read on the need to change our out-of-date drinking laws.
When my cousins from Denmark came for a visit, we packed up a nice lunch basket and headed to our famous Assiniboine Park, but alas we could not pack their famous Carlsberg beer to take along. We explained that beer in the park is forbudt, Danish for “forbidden.” In Denmark, beer is part of their lives. They do not overindulge but they do like their beer.
I had to explain that some people sneak their beer and wine into the park in Thermos bottles. Isn’t it time to liberalize some of our archaic laws?
Peter Kaufmann Winnipeg
The pictures are getting big
Re “Coming soon: the big, costly, bewildering future of moviegoing” (Arts & Books, July 20): I enjoy Barry Hertz’s reviews and articles. After trying to digest all the technical terms for contemporary film, I waxed nostalgic for the old days of sitting in a cinema seat with a box of popcorn waiting for the film to start rolling, maybe with news before the main attraction and some previews. If the film tore, you’d wait for the projectionist to splice it back together and continue on.
Going to the movies was a regular night out that primed the imagination. Everything changes.
Susan Griffin Toronto
Aging gracefully
Re “The conversation we really need about aging doesn’t involve U.S. presidential candidates” (Opinion, July 25): André Picard is right about one thing: “We need to normalize aging.” Will someone please save us from all the “experts”? There is only one way to maximize the “normal” biological changes that are inevitable about aging, and it has everything to do with that nod that sits between our shoulders and is attached to our neck. Get a grip, fellow agers, and use up all that good DNA you were gifted with and enjoy the ride.
The best advice I ever got about aging was: “Don’t start preparing for it when you turn 65 or 70, start when you are 25 and in your prime.” Develop coping skills, exercise, eat well, love the unlovable, forgive and forget, appreciate the beauty of family, friends and nature, birds and flowers – it’s all free. Then find your passion (whatever gets you energized) and go for it. You’re welcome!
Joan McNamee Kamloops
Save us from what, exactly?
Re “Trump supporters see shooting as ‘good versus evil’ ” (July 20): I do not believe in a supernatural, interventionist God who miraculously saved Donald Trump.
Nor do I believe in a God who causes cancer, car accidents and other so-called “acts of God.”
This is an affront to God.
We are not “saved” from life’s harms by divine will.
We are saved to be free to choose.
Life teaches us that no one is free of suffering and tragedy – religious or not.
I believe God protects us from nothing and is present in everything.
Presence trumps power every time.
Rev. John Pentland Hillhurst United Church Calgary
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