Re: Politicians grasp at straws, avoid climate policy reality (B.C. Views, Aug. 4).
After reading Tom Fletcher’s column, I question his understanding of the urgency of the climate crisis.
Dismissing that urgency despite the overwhelming scientific consensus is reckless and insulting to our communities and our children. The reality is that we are indeed in a climate emergency.
We continue to see unprecedented extreme climate events around the globe – including a recent announcement that July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded globally. Huge wildfires are burning in the Siberian Arctic. Paris smashed temperature records by hitting 42.6 C on July 25, and Greenland ice is melting at a record pace. Scientists can now link such extreme events directly to human caused climate change.
Clearly we must act as if this were an emergency, rather than kicking the can to the next generation. We need to ramp up our transition to renewable energy, greatly improve energy efficiency, and better care for our forests and farmlands. This needs to happen here in Canada and around the world. There is no silver bullet, but economists agree that carbon pricing needs to be at the core of any credible climate plan.
I suggest Fletcher propose real solutions to the climate crisis. No action is not an option. When voting in the upcoming federal election, my children’s future will be my priority.
Laura Sacks, Castlegar
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Predictably, Tom Fletcher does not have a cohesive thesis in this latest rant. For example, in the carbon tax section he tries to make a connection between the carbon tax, resistance to pipeline expansion and the price of gasoline in the Lower Mainland. Real experts in the field have already de-bunked that notion.
As yet, the results of a provincial enquiry in to gas pricing has not become public, since many of the oil companies are unwilling to share information on their pricing strategies. Fletcher does not mention this.
Aside from the political intrigue fashioned by Fletcher, he has not offered any meaningful contribution to the climate change discussion; and yet maintains a privileged position with Black Press. We must remember that critical thinking can lead to solutions; being only critical is not a solution.
Ron Robinson, Nelson
