Petro Pierre Poilievre

The clouds of diesel exhaust choking the capital feel ominous. Vaccine mandates might have sparked the trucker convoys, but there’s no doubt the same outrage can be galvanized against carbon taxes or clean energy. There’s a clear lineage between the truck protests, Yellow Vests, and “ethical oil.” This is not a movement seeking freedom from the ravages of an angry climate.

This week, the federal Conservatives abandoned their brief, tortured flirtation with climate policy. The party will reset to policies adopted at the last Conservative convention — the one where members voted down an anodyne proposal to recognize climate change as “real.”

The attempt to move the party into the broad Canadian consensus on climate change lasted less than a year.

Prominent Conservative leaders have spent the last decade fomenting opposition to climate action and riling up their base. They’ve boxed themselves outside mainstream opinion by deriding clean energy and claiming carbon pricing and the energy transition would “screw everyone.”

Now the party seems poised to anoint Pierre Poilievre its next leader and nail that box shut. Poilievre is an angry enthusiast for “ethical oil” and one of the most vocal critics of pollution pricing and energy solutions. Also, a formidable organizer and talented politician.

One of the main reasons for Poilievre’s popularity in his party is that he takes clear positions. Last year, he rose in the House of Commons to give a speech promoted on his YouTube channel with the title: “You want environmental labeling on products? Fine: I’ll write the label now.”

You can probably imagine the kind of labels he offered to write, but it’s worth watching a few minutes to get some insight into “Pierre Poilievre for Prime Minister.” He suggests labels touting the “clean, green oil produced in Canada,” but also warning labels against electric vehicles.

Continue reading at the source (Canada’s National Observer.)