It was interesting to see the initial reaction of people after the City of Kelowna gave the approval for staff to investigate what it would take to reduce the impacts of climate change in our city.
Judging by responses on the Capital News Facebook page and at kelownacapnews.com, the public consultation period for the climate change action plan will be quite something to behold.
Now Facebook is not a good representation of the general public and perhaps it is the silent majority who agree with things that are never heard on these hot-button topics.
But the decision to move forward with a plan on climate change was roundly criticized by online readers of the Capital News by an almost unanimous count.
And it makes one wonder if Mayor Colin Basran was correct earlier this month in stating that there appears to be a disconnect between Kelowna residents’ problems with traffic congestion and how those same people’s cars impact climate change.
If what we are hearing is true, then most residents are not worried about climate change and would rather have a second crossing of the lake and more roads before ever having to look at themselves in the mirror and ask what they can do to help this problem.
It seems there is more appetite to head out to the car dealership and get a second vehicle so Mom can drive the kids to school and Dad can head to Tim Hortons before work.
There are also plenty of climate change deniers taking up space on our pages and at this day and age it’s time to move past that.
We’re here to say (and 99 per cent of the world’s scientists agree) that climate change is real and we all have to start doing our part to get things under control.
Kudos to the City of Kelowna for taking leadership steps to try and come up with solutions. There are public consultations with the city coming up early in the new year where every citizen should take it upon themselves to get educated and give your opinion.
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