Fight terrorists by parking car, Anderson
says
By Lisa
Schmidt / The Canadian Press
Ottawa - Federal Environment Minister David Anderson said
Canadians can help in the fight against terrorism right here
at home every day - by driving less.
"Whenever asked what an individual can do to fight
terrorism, the answer is very simple: drive less," he said in
a speech Saturday.
In an address to delegates at a conference of the Canadian
Institute of International Affairs, Anderson said work is
continuing on a federal government plan to improve automobile
fuel efficiency.
"The events of last month have made this even more
compelling," he said.
Reducing the country's reliance on oil imports from Middle
Eastern countries would help reduce the risk of funds ending
up in the hands of terrorist organizations such as Osama bin
Laden's, Anderson said.
Bin Laden, a Saudi-born millionaire, and his al-Qaida
network is blamed for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New
York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
"That wealth is basically petro dollars from the United
States, from Western Europe, from ourselves, which through the
system has wound up in the hands of his family and himself,"
he said after the speech.
"If the concern in the United States' mind is the link to
Middle Eastern oil, we can reduce that very quickly . . . if,
in fact, we have a serious approach to energy consumption in
the United States and Canada."
Anderson said there's a link between the anger and
fanaticism of the terrorist organizations and the despair and
squalor of Third World countries where some of these terrorist
movement are born.
A U.S.-led coalition of countries, including Canada, is
currently engaged in a military response to terrorism, but
Anderson expects that a year from now the world will seek
opportunities for more fundamental change by examining the
deeper causes.
Anderson, who is preparing for another round of
climate-change talks in Morocco next month, said the U.S.
government is moving ahead with its own plan to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, after pulling out of the Kyoto
accord.
Although the U.S. is focusing much of its resources on
security issues in the wake of the terrorist attacks, American
officials recently assured Anderson the issue of climate
change has not been sidelined, he said.
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