There is a responsibility that comes with being a voter, with being a global citizen, with being someone with hope for the future.
I heard someone say recently how frequently hope is used in passive sentences, to convey a desire, with no call to action and no required action of oneself.
But there is no hope for the future without action, which should be very apparent to anyone living in the Okanagan amidst heatwaves and drought and intense forest fire smoke, not to mention the risk of wildfire itself.
We should all be holding elected officials accountable for the constant errors they are currently making in not prioritising the environment and mitigating climate change in every decision they make.
Read more: Shouting It Out Loud: Fight wildfires by fighting climate change
Read more: Climate change made B.C., Alberta heat wave 150 times more likely, study concludes
If MP Mel Arnold or MLA Greg Kyllo have a public speaking engagement, or indeed any public appearance, and they’re not talking about climate change, they should be ashamed, and anyone concerned about the future of their children and grandchildren should be making that clear. If they are not bringing these issues to the forefront of their own political parties’ agendas and campaigns then they are failing doubly.
We have a responsibility as citizens to make sure that public officials at all levels know that the environment should be the first priority, and that other ‘priorities’ to keep economies strong and development moving should be centred around the real and finite resources upon which our very lives depend.
Annelise Grube-Cavers,
Armstrong
