Duncan – Better late than never may save you if you’ve forgotten your wife’s birthday, but late is the same as never when it comes to avoiding runaway climate change.
Scientists warn that like a series of dominoes, Arctic sea ice will disappear within a few years, the ocean will rapidly warm and vast quantities of methane, now safely frozen on the ocean floor, will be released setting off uncontrollable global warming. Stephen Harper’s promise to decarbonize our economy by the year 2100 – the same year that he will celebrate his 141st birthday – offers the false and very dangerous hope that we can continue business as usual for the time being while still avoiding the sort of climate change that will threaten the survival of every species on Earth.
Binding commitments, a rapidly escalating carbon tax and decarbonization within a few decades are the only hope that we truly have of preserving a habitable planet: Failing that, there might not be enough people left at the turn of the century to blow out the candles on our prime minister’s cake.
Mike Ward
Duncan
