Trees down. Roofs were blown off. Cars flipped. A State of Emergency in Uxbridge. Ten dead in Ontario. All this is on the heels of record flooding and evacuations in northern Ontario. And road-destroying, farm-destroying flooding in BC in November. Climate disruption is here, now, and getting worse. Globally, extreme rainfall and flooding happen four times more often than 40 years ago.
What’s bad news for us will be even more devastating for today’s kids. We have to act. What kind of action?
First, reduce our use of fossil fuels (oil, gas, natural gas) which produce carbon dioxide. Second, minimize the destruction of our natural environment, the wetlands, forests and fields that sequester carbon, filter water and reduce flooding.
The current Ontario government is taking us backwards on both counts. They eliminated 750 clean energy projects and are jacking up the amount of electricity we get from natural gas from 4 percent of the grid to 25 percent. And they help big developers pave over natural areas with unnecessary highways and sprawl development.
On June 2nd, we need a government that acts like we’re in a climate emergency because we are. Today’s kids can’t vote. We can. Vote for a cleaner environment.
Ginny Colling,
Port Perry