Environmentalist warns clean energy businesspeople their opponents to be prepared for ‘uphill battle’

By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun October 29, 2012

VANCOUVER — Environmental icon David Suzuki warned a Clean Energy B.C. conference Monday that Canadian alternative energy companies are facing two distinct challenges: not being green enough themselves yet facing a growing challenge from a well-organized anti-climate change lobby.

“You are going to encounter a lot of opposition. Some of it is legitimate, some of it is for other reasons,” Suzuki told an overflow audience at Generate 2012, Clean Energy B.C.’s 11th annual conference. “Be prepared, even if you are doing the right thing.”

The clean energy sector is encountering opposition, Clean Energy B.C. executive director Paul Kariya said in a later interview. Not only from advocacy groups but from within government as well.

“We have a product that we think is arguably cleaner and better in terms of energy, but there are folks who just don’t see a need for it,” Kariya said in response to Suzuki’s comments. “It is an uphill battle across the board. There are organizations that are feeding information to counter the kinds of messages that we are trying to put out there.

To read the entire article go to: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/energy/Climate+warming+deniers+have+well+oiled+propaganda/7465708/story.html