The americans might complain about our dirty energy, but does anyone seriously think they won't keep using it as fast as they can? "Energy independence" is not going to happen in the US in the forseeable future. Even a massive collapse of the economy (that dollar of their's sure is sinking fast...) won't do it...last I read, they were at about 75% energy imports.

It's a given that Americans will blame us for their own environmental failures, just as they blame everyone else in the world for, well, whatever problem shows up. Canada gets to sit next to them and blame the US though, which while having the advantage of being slightly more true in most cases (on a total level, not a per capita level), certainly isn't going to help things here any. Blame games are beyond pointless. You don't launch investigations while still on the sinking ship.

I think the best hope for awakening Canadians to problems is the environmental angle. Most already recognize the major problems there (although personal action hasn't kicked in large scale yet), and since some solutions overlap so well with peak oil mitigation strategies (solar/wind energy, carbon taxes, house isulation, etc...), if one is dealt with, the other at least has a great start.

This is where I see regionalism helping out, although I too fear for Canadian unity. Provincial governments have started to give up on the federal gov't ever doing anything, and are just starting to implement things on their own. Harper can go force himself further into Bush's ass if he wants to. Since long-term planning must necessarily be on a local level anyway, forcing provinces and cities to deal with these things themselves, while unfair given the tax collection distribution, is fine by me if it results in actions being taken. That's going to start picking up steam soon, right?