Millenials, and those who follow them, are rightfully growing increasingly concerned about climate change. Thanks to the gift of mortality, it is unlikely that my cohort will be around to deal with most of the civil unrest, food shortages, skyrocketing prices, coastal flooding and the hordes of people fleeing their low-lying nations seeking sanctuary on our shores, but they will be.
Dozens of people rallied at CBC stations in Whitehorse and Yellowknife, among other Canadian communities, to demand the public broadcaster host a federal leaders' debate on climate change and a proposed Green New Deal.Their concern is proving to be contagious.
"There's lots of questions to ask our federal leaders, and I think that this debate is the perfect opportunity to ask those hard questions and get those hard answers," said Braden Lamoureux, the organizer of the Whitehorse rally.
"Everybody deserves to know which of our leaders has a strategic plan to tackle this climate crisis."
A new poll finds that a majority of Canadians
want the government to take action to address climate change, even if the economy suffers....Other numbers from the poll are equally telling:
...61 per cent of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement that it’s more important for the government to solve the issue of climate change even if that means that the economy suffers. That number was even higher in Quebec (76.8 per cent), Atlantic Canada (67.3) and B.C. (62), and among women (66.1), 18-35 year olds (64.4) and those aged 65 or older (64).
Over 85 per cent of respondents agreed that private companies should have to pay to pollute, including 69.1 per cent who strongly agreed. Support was highest in Quebec (89.1 per cent) and lowest in Alberta, though at 75.2 per cent agreeing, opposition to the concept is still rather marginal.Will any of this change the disastrous trajectory we are on? I doubt it, unless the major party leaders do agree to a separae debate on climate change during the campaign. This, of course, is highly unlikely, in that the Greens' Elizabeth May would without a doubt mop the floor with people like Trudeau and Scheer.
Also, just under 68 per cent of respondents agreed that theres’s a collective moral duty to future generations to not destroy the environment further, even if it means paying more taxes in the short term. As with the other responses, support was highest in Quebec (70.2 per cent), above the national average in B.C. (71.5) and Ontario (69.9), and lowest in Alberta (53).
Nonetheless, it is a worthy pursuit, and for the the sake of their futures, I hope the young succeed in their efforts.
An excellent idea. What it requires is the courage to take on the subject. These days, courage is in short supply.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Owen. The current crop of political 'leaders' are decidedly gutless, betrayers of all those whose interests they claim to have at heart.
DeleteBack during the Layton era I argued that the NDP had chosen the very worst time to abandon the left. Today the same argument could be made for the Liberals on the environment.
ReplyDeleteI don't imagine Trudeau believes his own bullshit about bitumen being the key to Canada's green future. If he does, he's vastly more incompetent than I thought.
On fossil fuels, Trudeau has outdone Harper. He not only approved the pipeline, he even paid above-fair market value for it to avoid the private sector oil guys from walking away. Who does that?
I remember when Obama summed up Trump as a "bullshitter." A leaders' debate on the climate crisis would likely expose Trudeau as a bullshitter. Ditto for Scheer.
The Conservatives and the Liberals are deeply entrenched on the wrong side of this climate emergency. Neither of them sees a way out. At least Henry II understood the need for atonement after he had Becket slaughtered. How will Trudeau extricate himself from his sullied record?
No doubt, Mound, Trudeau is counting on his many brainless supporters to cover for him until it is far too late.
Delete