I (another Canuck albeit transplanted) cannot agree with Gnu (we will keep to opposite sides of the sweatlodge and we obviously need more than the smell of burning sweetgrass to reach agreement, but like him, I agree that there is much misinformation and half-baked thought out there- and here as well). Looking at pollution alone and ignoring climatic shifts the following thoughts come to mind. The oil companies are stockholder-driven- it is you and me with our investments that determine long range policy (majors of course; small speculative companies have mostly short range strategy). If alternate sources of energy are feasable to the extent that the major world economies need them, the energy companies will find a way to make a profit from them. At present, some sort of nuclear-electrical seems the way of the future (current problem is storage or disposal of waste radioactive material). Wind will work in some areas, but it is hell on bird life and must cover very large areas. Straight solar is seasonal in many areas. Water power for electrical is reaching its limit. Hydrogen has a bright future for automotive transport and the first vehicles will be on sale within five years. Governments have a hard time convincing people to use public transit or to build enough to make it people-friendly (the US and Canada have problems with large distances- I can only envy Europeans with their short distances, centralized population and hence good public transportation. How do we convince people over here to live in high rises, condos, row houses, etc, when everyone thinks they must have their own lawn to mow and space for their horse? Climatic shifts not due to Man are (I think) slow enough that there is time to adjust (I mentioned moving New Orleans upriver as sealevel rises but shifts of this kind can be planned for). All of this boils down to the need for rational thought and long range planning for the future.