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Meet the Merry Climate Pranksters Who Put Canada on the Spot
1. Hoax explained. The Yes Men called this morning from Denmark; they're the merry band of anti-globalization and environmental pranksters who wreaked havoc on the Copenhagen climate conference yesterday, badly embarrassing Canada.
(Photo: Joseph Huff-Hannon)
Although they are American, they say about five or six Canadian activists were involved in their prank but The Yes Men are refusing to identify them. "They have chosen to remain a bit under the radar," said one of the group members.
Meanwhile, several of The Yes Men called to explain why they targeted Canada yesterday: "We've always kind of grown up looking up to Canada, literally on the map," says Andy Bichlbaum, one of the principals. He is also known as Jacque Servin. (It seems that no one who is they say they are when it comes to this group.)
"We've always thought that Canadians were such nice people and had much better policies that we did - national health care and all that. And this is just a real disappointment for us, energy policy and learning that Canadians' carbon footprint per capita is higher than us." Their prank was aimed at shaming Canaada into making changes - they got loads of international attention but it is still not clear whether their prank will result in long-term change.
The Yes Men, meanwhile, were working in concert with a group called the Climate Debt Agents, led by Ugandan student activist Margaret Matembe. Together they sent out fake press releases and videos announcing that Canada had dramatically reduced its greenhouse gas emission targets. The group created authentic-looking websites, placing the Canadian news on these sites. It forced world attention to the fact that the Conservative government's plan is woefully lacking, according to environmentalists.
Environment Minister Jim Prentice and the Canadian delegation were not pleased.
Says Ms. Matembe: "I think Canada is one of the countries that is really being bad at the climate negotiations." It took the group about a week to plan their moves; they say they have "really, really smart people" helping them.
The pranksters, who are staying in Copenhagen until the end of the meetings, are hinting that there is more to come. Says Mr. Bichlbaum: "Canada is one of the worst climate offenders and has a very nice image and in Canada we were shocked to meet a lot of Canadians who were shocked to know that there were tar sands in Alberta, informed, intelligent educated Canadians didn't even know."
They say they have a lot of hope for Canada to, perhaps, lead the way for the developed countries. The fight, of course, is between the rich and poor nations about who should do the heavy lifting when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
As for Ms. Matembe, she is returning to Uganda after this conference, hoping that measures taken in Copenhagen will lead to the "climate debt to be paid." She says this about "people who are suffering."
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12 Comments so far
Show AllIt's very entertaining to know that these pranksters are "doing something" about climate change and lack of real political stewardship.
Didn't Robin Hood provide the same entertainment for the masses?
"We've always thought that Canadians were such nice people and had much better policies that we did - national health care and all that. And this is just a real disappointment for us, energy policy and learning that Canadians' carbon footprint per capita is higher than us."
Yes, as a Canadian I am very embarrased...but people should look at who exactly OWNS the oil sands....mostly US companies.
However, Canada should put strict requirements in place to require clean extraction methods.
"As for Ms. Matembe, she is returning to Uganda after this conference,"
I always looked up to Uganda..then they passed this law making homosexuality a capital offence.
Anyone who's struggled with addictions can recognize the syndrome of self-denial, obfuscation and deliberate self-harm at work in Canada and around the world. Industry is addicted to oil. The rich are addicted to money. Politicians are hooked on power. The whole freaking planet needs a twelve step program.
First we have to admit we have a problem.
"Yes, as a Canadian I am very embarrassed...but people should look at who exactly OWNS the oil sands....mostly US companies."
As a Canadian; that is one of the lamest rationalisations ever written. 'It's not our fault it's those bad, bad Americans!'
It hurts a bit to be knocked off ones' sanctimonious pedestal doesn't it?
I dont know...do you blame the residents of Bophal for the toxicity of their environment? Do you blame the Iraqis for all that delpeted uranium lying around Iraq?
Personally, I have never voted for the Oilpatch Conservatives.
Actually, it's not just the Americans - almost every oil major is there, directly or as a joint venture - BP, Shell, Norway's Statoil, heck, even the Chinese are there! The decision to open up tar sands for 'development' (exploitation?) was made by the Alberta government - so who owns what is totally secondary. If they had wanted, they could have restricted the scale, scope and the level of pollution. Although the people of Alberta might see some short-term gains, they are most likely being short-changed as well - because the royalties collected are way too low - compared to some other countries in the world.
"informed, intelligent educated Canadians didn't even know"
If they don't know about the impacts of laissez-faire capitalism on people and planet I'd rather describe them as intellectually enslaved.
I too am Canadian...like most nations, we have our myths. One of them is that we're a very environmentally friendly people; this simply isn't true and it has never been true. The illusion has thus far been successful because we are the second largest country in the world, in terms of land mass, with a very very small population. In other words, we could behave badly, environmentally speaking, and no one would notice. Not any more.
Like so many other countries, there's a great amount of internal struggle going on in Canada at the moment. Many of us are terribly embarrassed by the performance in Copenhagen of our current do nothing Conservative government; it should be said, two-thirds of the country did NOT vote for this government (there's a larger issue at play here, which is that our system of government is seriously broken). On the flip side, many others are thrilled to death because big oil and their soulless PR minions have done a masterful job of confusing the issue of climate change. Or they themselves are making fat cash off the oil sands. I'm not sure what the solution is but having the world beat us up right now definitely has Canadians talking more about the issue; let's see if it translates into doing something about it.
This just made me laugh out loud - and if these almost 60 yo knees didn't need replacing (no insurance), I'd jump up and down in glee!!! Tee hee hee!
I just love it! ^5
Embarrassed Canada enough to finally get going and quit the idiotic notion that oil is more important than life? Remains to be seen, eh?
I love these guys.
Who says one person or a few cannot make a difference?
Yes Men hold the people in power's feet to the fire and in a comical way.
Keep up the good work, Yes Men!