Hymn to carbon | La Presse

I was also thinking that I would attract your attention with this title that is reminiscent of the antichrist. And on this biblical impulse, I might as well get down on one knee and confess that I have sinned. Lord! But impiety is imprecise, it navigates between several faults. Not clear.

The problem is that St. Thomas Aquinas, when he first compiled the list of the seven deadly sins, did not foresee that the horse would one day become steam-powered.

Hence my blasphemy: two days of “chariot racing” at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, in the mists of fossil fuels and clouds of rubber birds! A hymn to carbon!

For some, a primitive sport, too bad for them, because I, although I rarely go there, I like it.

Now, this sin is difficult to qualify, because it is modern, because it is a contemporary impertinence whose importance, like any transgression, would normally depend on the assessment that one makes of it.

But not here, because it is scientifically quantifiable, sin, in units of CO₂and difficult to erase by accumulating indulgences, as in the past.

Ecological sin? Sin against the planet?

Know that I am not joking, that a “sin against Creation” is perhaps on the verge of being born within Catholic theology!

The thing has been in the air since 2017, when, at the end of a synod on the Amazon, participants called for the creation of this eighth deadly sin.^⁠1. Saint Thomas would be happy!

The tens of thousands of trippers in Trois-Rivières have left a lot of money in the local economy. But you might not see them at the theater, or at a repertory film festival, not necessarily big consumers of bobo culture, bobo like I am myself.

So, there is no discussion of tastes, to cut the saying short, and everyone lives their own vinaigrette, to slip in another one.

Now, can we be anti-chariot racing in the name of the future of the planet? It is defensible, in absolute terms. But to go from there to hoping for their disappearance, we risk causing a useless pile-up.

There are all sorts of ways to campaign, but the worst is probably to confront the people in their consumption of small pleasures, too rare for many. And why create more enemies than friends for the environmental cause? It’s not a foregone conclusion, as the guy from Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs would say.

You will tell me that Formula E competitions, E for electric, already exist. Yes, but the thunderous noise of the mechanical beasts is part of the enjoyment. So, FE, less sexy for the maniac.

The search for environmentally compatible fuel is evolving, and I am told that about twenty cars from the “Vintage” series Quebec” in competition at Trois-Rivières used them. We are talking about old V8 engines that are not clean at all! By the way, I did not notice that their exhaust systems were spitting out fewer virile decibels. The pleasure was intact.

In terms of acceptability, it seems to me that imposing the use of this type of fuel one day would be a good idea, right? Read the columns of Bertrand Godin, an intelligent guy who knows a lot about chariot racing. ^{⁠2, 3, 4}.

Along the same lines, the Quebec government will impose an obligation on car dealerships to sell electric vehicles at an accelerated pace: a minimum of 60% of their sales in just over three years, in 2028; 85% in five years, in 2030; and in 2035, it will be completely prohibited to sell new and used gasoline-powered cars.^⁠5.

I support the principle, although like many people I doubt that the Quebec government will achieve its targets, particularly the first one of 60%.

And if you discuss this with people, and even more so with those from the regions, you will feel a great deal of discomfort, if not insecurity.

We have to see the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, who smelled blood by questioning the law. Note that he really needs a big political bone, it’s not easy to survive in the political doghouse.

Since Quebec set its targets for the sale of electric vehicles, I wondered if it would not have been wise to allow dealers to sell hybrid vehicles. without constraints or penalties until 2035 to help the transition to electric.

Mind you, owners would learn to plug these hybrid vehicles in. I don’t know anyone who enjoys filling up for more or less $100 per visit to the pump.

They would perhaps thus evacuate the fears apprehended, mainly on the efficiency of electric batteries at -200 degrees in winter on the 230 km of Route 138 between Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau, or on the 117 in the La Vérendrye park.

Maybe by experimenting with electricity with a hybrid, and with the technology that is evolving, they could convince themselves that they will no longer have to ruin themselves to water the cart with gasoline.

Maybe that way, they would adhere to the law instead of being its opponents? That it would be more “in advance” if we quarreled less politically? And all this so as not to delay the achievement of a zero-carbon Quebec.

And in any case, the cost of purchasing electric vehicles without government subsidies worries people for the next few years, because they are expensive, while hybrids are generally less expensive than electrics, again without subsidies. And that is obviously before knowing the net result of Ottawa imposing 100% customs tariffs on electric vehicles built in China.

In politics, all laws must take into account the absorption capacity of the population, especially those at the forefront.

Well, we’re talking for the sake of talking, here, I may be completely off base, so do what you want with it…

Gentlemen, start your engines!

1. Read the article from The Cross “What is the ‘ecological sin’ that some would like to integrate into Catholic theology?”

2. Read the column “Motor sport and sustainable development: a race towards the future”

3. Read the column “Techno column: clean fuel for green driving”

4. Read the column “Techno: eco-responsible tires? Coming soon”

5. Read the column “Electric vehicles in a dead end”

What do you think? Join the dialogue