Advocates of the new global economy always present themselves as forward-looking types, while characterizing opponents as cringing stick-in-the-muds who cling to the past.

The silliness of this proposition is amply illustrated by the fight over the Kyoto accords. If ever there was something that falls into the category of wave-of-the-future, cutting-edge challenges, it is the need to address the catastrophic problems of global climate change that lie ahead if the world community fails to address our decades-old pattern of unsustainable growth and reliance on fossil fuels.

Yet rather than addressing this pressing new reality, the global economy enthusiasts insist change is too costly, that too many jobs will be lost. Aren’t these the same people who always insist that we must accept the realities of the global economy, no matter how harsh, that job security is a thing of the past, that, as one business guru put it: There will only be two types of people in the new world âe” the quick and the dead.

All their chutzpah disappears when it comes to meeting the challenge of climate change. On this front, Alberta’s Ralph Klein and Ontario’s Ernie Eves go limp with trepidation about the new world realities, and try to convince us, as they did last week, that the price we’ll pay is too high.

So let me get this straight âe” it’s OK to risk losing your job for something important like opening up markets so capital can flow more freely around the world, but it’s not OK to take risks when it comes to something like merely ensuring our descendants will inherit a planet they can live on.

Despite the huge anti-Kyoto campaign mounted by business, polls show the public supports Kyoto, even in Alberta. This reflects the fact that most people âe” while not particularly keen about making lifestyle changes âe” have grasped that we must do something, if we want the world to survive in some form that we recognize.

This leaves some important questions about who will bear the burden of adjustment, and Klein could reasonably stake out a fierce negotiating posture to make sure the burden doesn’t fall too heavily on his province.

Instead, he is ultimately hurting the interests of his own citizens âe” not to mention others on the planet âe” by championing the oil industry’s battle against Kyoto, even spending $1.5 million of Albertans’ money to undermine their confidence in their own clear understanding of the issue. (Isn’t that what business-funded think tanks are for?)

Stoking up old regional resentments, Klein insists Ottawa signing Kyoto would be a “dagger through the heart” of the Alberta economy. (Exactly why Ottawa would want to put a dagger through the heart of the Alberta economy âe” what possible benefit this would produce for federal politicians âe” is not explained.)

Klein is tough when standing up to Ottawa, but that fierce resolve wanes when it comes to standing up to the multinational oil industry. Certainly Klein lacks the toughness of former Alberta Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed, who forced the industry to pay significant royalties, which he then invested in building the province’s infrastructure.

Even today, we can see how good a deal a government can win for its people when it stands up to the oil multinationals. Norway, for instance, currently collects $19.68 for every barrel of oil and gas produced there, whereas Alberta collects only $3.88 per barrel, according to Edmonton-based economist and private consultant Mark Anielski.

If the Klein government had insisted on collecting the same share of oil profits that Norway does, Alberta would have collected at least $50 billion more than it actually collected over the past decade, Anielski calculates. (Of course, nobody expects Klein to be as tough and feisty as the Norwegians, but imagine if he had insisted on even half that!)

Certainly $50 billion could have paid for a lot of investment in alternative technologies âe” something that could have put Alberta in the forefront of developing clean-burning energy for the future, rather than being stuck with yesterday’s inefficient and destructive technologies.

There would have even been plenty left over for things like health care, education and financial security for the people of Alberta.

But that $50 billion never made it into the Alberta treasury. Instead, much of it ended up in the head offices of corporations located in places like Texas âe” corporations that have ensured Washington doesn’t sign Kyoto and are counting on Klein as their point man up here to prevent Ottawa from signing.

As he now uses Albertans’ own money to champion the cause of those Texas oil companies, Klein is hoping to keep the public’s gaze fixed on the big, bad guys in Ottawa and away from those corporate boardrooms south of the border, where the money actually goes.

Linda McQuaig

Journalist and best-selling author Linda McQuaig has developed a reputation for challenging the establishment. As a reporter for The Globe and Mail, she won a National Newspaper Award in 1989...