Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Canada's Inaction on Climate Change - A Letter to Our Prime Minister
Mr. Harper,
I am a mother, sister, wife, business owner and Canadian with very strong environmental ethics, I am deeply disappointed with Canada's lack of action on climate change.
It is unfathomable to me how the government can be in such denial of the situation we find ourselves in. I understand the economic downturn, I understand the need for individuals to be gainfully employed, but in all honesty, what good is money going to do when we're unable to SUSTAIN LIFE on our own planet?
When my first child was born, I made a commitment that I would not maintain the status quo. I made choices that I felt were right for our family with regard to her health and the environment: we use cloth diapers so as to reduce the waste we produce and the waste generated to produce the disposable diapers in the first place, we use only organic and naturally derived (often handmade) skin care products, my husband commutes by bicycle, we use public transit often, and have upgraded our home so as to reduce the energy required to heat and cool it. Of course there are still many, many things we can do to further reduce our impact, and we're working toward that. However, we are JUST ONE FAMILY. Many families I know are making similar changes. The individual person is embracing the fact that we need to FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE AND DO BUSINESS in this country, and indeed globally, if our children are to have a future. This is not a problem that can be dealt with after we've died and are no longer impacted, this is impacting people today, around the world.
I urge you become a world leader on climate change. Imagine the possibilities for Canada to show the world we're progressive, we're serious, and willing to do what is right! I am disappointed to hear that Canada has been called to task by politicians and public figures of other countries as being THE COUNTRY HOLDING UP the possibility of real change. It's embarrassing, it's irresponsible, it's unfathomable.
We need strict policies on climate change. We need to understand that jobs will most likely be lost, and new ones will be created. We need to understand that there will be a period of significant change that will be hard on a lot of us, and we need to understand that it's necessary. Nothing else will matter when the ecosystems collapse and conflict ensues over what small habitable territory there is left on the planet.
We really have no idea how far reaching the impacts of climate change will be - scientists paint a very bleak picture - but we truly have only one chance to get this right.
Get it right. Don't let us all down.
Respectfully,
April MacKinnon
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