I have no idea what ‘metacognition’ is, so perhaps I should tread carefully into this thread. It is quite possible I have no idea what is really being debated here. I think the Ethical Oil campaign is timely given the maturation of public opinion on climate change following the Copenhagen meetings and the Climategate revelations. In the US, very few people seriously discuss “getting off oil” any time soon, and I detect a sophisticated effort among Americans to reason their way through their energy options. Simply saying “We won’t take tar sands oil” doesn’t cut it without a corresponding discussion of how the demand for oil is going to be met. And the implications of how you meet that demand.

Of course Canada failed to meet its targets under the Kyoto Accord. No one seriously expected Canada to do so, especially given the arbitrariness that marked our target. That entire debate is behind us and the folks who signed an agreement that was so opposed to Canada’s national interests are long since retired. That exercise is irrelevant to the Ethical Oil argument.