LETTER: Help the poor adapt to climate change

Ottawa science organization questions Citizens'Climate Lobby's approach.

LETTER: Help the poor adapt to climate change

Re: “Citizens’ Climate Lobby calls for fee and dividend

Citizens’ Climate Lobby members Jan Slakov, Laura Sacks, Michael Jessen, and Kate Polle are right to advocate that we act on the climate change. But they might want to reconsider whether the overconfident approach of their organization is one they really support.

Across the world people suffer due to climate change. Yet aid agencies are unable to secure sufficient funds to help them because of the $1 billion spent globally every day on climate finance, only six per cent of it is goes to helping vulnerable people adapt to climate change today.

Because groups like Citizens’ Climate Lobby have convinced governments that we control climate as if we had a global thermostat, a truly silly idea that has no scientific credibility, the remaining 94 per cent is poured into mitigation, trying to stop phenomena that might someday happen. This is immoral, valuing the lives of people yet to be born more than those in need today.

Let’s help the poor adapt to climate change in today’s world and stop pretending we have a crystal ball to the future.

Tom Harris

International Climate Science Coalition

Ottawa

Nelson Star