Sieg,
Your post says: "Stephen Harper had just announced the need for canada to totally illinimate the use of fosil fuel within 50 years"
Harper's stand was not as strong as stated above as he said in the link below.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/prime-minister-stephen-harper-agrees-to-g7-decarbonization-by-2100-1.3104459
In fact, he said: There is a need to find ways to reduce carbon emission but "Nobody's going to start shutting down their industries or turn off the lights" (keeping in mind that Harper is from Calgary, the oil country).
It sounds wonderful to have such an agreement at G7, but there is no way that the world can eliminate the use of fossil fuel not in 50 years or by the end of this century (we will be all old and gray at 85+, optimistically speaking). Note that G7 does not include China, India (the two main greenhouse gas emitters), nor Russia and the oil producers in the Middle East. The oil producers will produce fossil fuel and China and India and the rest of the world outside G7 would be happily buying the stuff and burn away to power their automobiles and produce electricity for some of their e-cars.
Subsequent G7 meetings from now to the end of the century may result in an opposite agreement. 85 years is a long time for many "strange" things to happen. We will all go nuclear power (zero emission)?
goldhunter
