EKOS Communications, Inc.

Wow...wasn't that some election in the US yesterday? Photos of President Bush depict a very disappointed man. He can no longer get his way with either Congress or the Senate. Who would've guessed that such a far-reaching shift was possible? Especially given how the electoral boundaries have been re-drawn of late to ensure easy wins for Republican candidates. Must mean that finally enough Americans got pissed off with the way Bush and his cronies were running their country. But does the shift in the political landscape mean there will be a significant change in American policy? For instance, might the international community see the US become a signator to the Kyoto Protocol? Certainly some leadership hopefuls among the Liberal Party of Canada believe that more enlightened environmental policies will begin to emerge and they've issued a warning to Prime Minister Harper not to make the same mistakes as Bush on this front - a threat that neither he nor his caucus appear to be taking seriously. Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia must be feeling a tad ill in the fall-out of the US mid-term elections. He has been a brother-in-arms with Bush, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in steadfast dismissal of climate change, even though his country is collapsing economically from an extremely severe and prolonged drought. Without Bush to lean on, how long will it be before he, too, topples? Coming back to Canada, it is really interesting to note that a recent poll conducted just a few days ago revealed that environmental issues are now ranked as the second most important priority behind health care concerns.(1) Seventy-one percent of the respondents stated that current federal government's approach on the environment were not tough enough.(2) The poll concluded that continuous media coverage likely contributed significantly to the surge in environmental concern. And has there been any particular issue that the media has been fixated on? Of course! Climate change. It's everywhere. Not just in the science and nature sections, but also showing up in business, foriegn affairs and health sections as well. So, while Prime Minister Harper and his ministers may distainfully wave off any notion that Bush's drumming at the polls has implications for their environment platform and, in particular, their Clean Air Act, this new poll reveals they are falling seriously out-of-step with the majority of Canadians, a condition that cannot last very long. As Bush found out and as Howard is finding out. References: (1)"Environment a priorty for more Canadians, poll suggests." cbc.ca. Posted Nov. 8, 2006. Retrieved Nov. 8, 2006 from www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/08/environment-poll.html (2) Results of the CBC/Environics poll November 2006. Posted Nov. 8, 2006. Retrieved Nov. 8, 2006 from www.cbc.ca/news/background/public-opinion