It was in November of 2006 that Rona Amrose confirmed to the world that she was not fit to be a Minister of the Environment. Having felt the heat at early international meetings on Climate Change, this rookie minister in the new Harper Conservative Reform Alliance Party (CRAP) government, made herself conspicuously absent from the UN Conference on Climate Change in Nairobi, Kenya. She sent in her departure notice as Chair of the Conference electronically, at the same time confirming that “Our CRAP Government™” would not be able to meet it’s Kyoto oblligations. This earned Canada it’s first “Fossil of the Year” Award.

2006 was quite a year for this new CRAP government; within months of taking office, they had shut down the Environment Canada website, eliminated the One Tonne Challenge program (which my American colleagues had called “the best citizen awareness program on climate change action in the Americas”), censored Environment Canada scientists, and shredded the youth voice inclusion from Students On Ice in the CoP11 UN Convention on Biodiversity.

Last week, Ms. Ambrose, now repackaged as the Minister of Health, announced to the world that it was “irresponsible” of parents to ignore the overwhelming science behind the safety of vaccinations. So, the overwhelming consensus of 95% of practicing, published and peer reviewed climate change scientists can be ignored, but don’t mess with my measles vaccine.

Now, good citizens of Canada, follow the money trail here. Big Pharmaceutical companies have as much influence as Big Oil companies on governmental decisions. There is more going on here that the safety of our children. Granted, I do have trust in most of what my doctors tell me, and my children have all had their appropriate vaccinations. However, the massive advertising for everything from Hepatitus to HPV to the Flu (that really worked this year, eh?) has me wondering.

Big Pharm spends millions of dollars in focus groups and with advertising companies to figure out how to convince us to fear for our health and buy their products. They also make billions of dollars in sales and government approved vaccination programs. So there is a healthy profit in keeping us “healthy.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 150,000 deaths yearly from measles. It is conservatively estimated that there are 3,000,000 deaths yearly (one research group, DARA, takes that up to 5,000,000)  from climate change related heat waves, cold snaps, insect disease vector expansion, food production changes, and  water, air and soil pollution from the fossil fuel industry. The WHO currently estimates that there will be an additonal 250,000 deaths per year due to accelerating climate change.

And yet, Ms. Ambrose, you chose to throw your support behind the science of vaccinations and the safety of a few hundred in Canada , selectively ignoring the science behind accelerating climate change and the security of seven billion in our global community.

Once when I questionned why our First Nations peoples are still trying to access clean drinking water and adequate sewage systems. a wise young friend replied, “It’s because they have no economic value to our government. Just like the Palestinians.” And I would add, climate change scientists.

I wonder if there is a vaccine to prevent irresponsibility. I know just the politicians on whom it could be tested.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon

After gazing into my green crystal ball, and consulting with several legitimate scientific organizations (like the mythical anchor William Duncan McAvoy on The Newsroom, I protect my sources) I can pronounce with more certainty than a long term Weather Channel forecast, the top environmental issues of 2015.

To put a positive spin on it, I can also announce the things we can do individually and collectively to address those issues.

#5 War and Terror:

Whether they are radicalized Tea Party republicans or radicalized Islamic jihadists, they are equally dangerous. The policies of hate produce displaced and disenfranchised peoples by the millions. They could be the American poor living downstream and downwind of toxic corporate waste, waiting for the trickle down of free market capitalism to get to them. Or they could be the thousands of families fleeing war and oppression in the Middle East, from Palestine to Syria. Peoples in extreme need do not care one whit about environmental issues. They care about safety, shelter, water, and food. Then education. And maybe then the home planet.

#4 Conservation and Protection of Land, Water, and Air

It is long overdue that every municipality put the primary needs of their communities first, by ensuring that any development does not adversely affect the quality of the land, water, and air in their communities. The agribusiness lobby must finally acknowledge that water pollution from phosphate enriched fertilizers and manure runoff is one of the biggest water contaminant sources in Ontario. Business and industry must finally acknowledge that many of the most toxic substances in our environment enter the planetary waste stream via their effluent. Our municipallities must ensure that sewage treatment and disposal ensures zero discharge of pollutants.  And all three groups must accept responsibility to clean up their acts.

#3 Species at Risk: and that includes us

From Woodland Caribou to the Northern Shrike to the Blandings Turtle to the Wood Poppy, habitat alteration has vastly decreased the ability of species to adapt and survive. Whether it be resource extraction from forests or the tar sands, or urban sprawl and expansive residential development on agricultural lands, the impact is the same. More room for us, less room for them. Also, fewer healthy sustainable ecosystems for everyone.

#2 Toxic Chemicals

No more neonicotinoids on our plants, no more Triclosan in our toothpaste and hand sanitizers. Ontario Nature began a campaign last year to protect our pollinators, without whom our food sources would become totally dependent on Monsanto. And those who watch Kelly and Michael in the mornings might want to remind Ms. Ripa that Colgate Total toothpaste is NOT a healthy lifestyle choice. And those are only two of a toxic mix that is in everything from our food to our antibacterial handsoap.

#1 Accelerating Climate Change

Still the number one issue on the planet. This single issue affects everything from environmental refugees to food production to insect disease vector displacement to species extinctions. From November 30 to December 11, the attention of the world should be focused on Paris at the UN Climate Change Conference, perhaps our last gasp to do something meaningful for life on Earth.

In Canada, we have a federal election coming up in October, hopefully. Whatever the government, a clear policy on conservation, species protection, economic sustainable development, human well being, climate change mitigation, and a carbon tax/polluter pay principle must be articulated. Every citizen can begin to demand that our elected officials at all levels acknowledge these priorities.

What do we as individuals and communities do about these issues? War – be peaceful as a family and a community. Seek consensus resolution to our issues, and learn to live together. The optional choice is social chaos. Conservation – the old adage, use less, buy for the long term, and “reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink”.

Species at Risk – plant native plants in our yards and greenspaces, ensure developers respect wetlands and woodlots and watersheds, and if not stop their projects! Find out who are our wild neighbours. Look at how popular the Jefferson salamander has become!

Toxic chemicals – simply refuse to buy products sprayed with them or containing them. Triclosan is an insidious ingredient in many “antibacterial” products. I would rather my children eat dirt. And let Home Depot and Walmart and Canadian Tire know that we will NOT be buying any of their spring plants if they have been sprayed, again, with neonicotinoids.

Climate change – elect a government that will enact and act on policies based on science and the wisdom of the elders instead of the oil patch old boys club. Don’t idle our cars, walk and cycle  when we don’t need to drive, and sign up to Bullfrog Power!

So, the future is really what we create, and if we are apathetic to the issues, if they are just sound bites on the nightly newscast, then we are truly deserving of “Our Government™” and the future of our planet. It is only when we become informed, communicate our concerns to our municipal, provincial and federal representatives, that we can truly claim that we are a democracy.

If not, we are simply a herd, following the leader with the most bull.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon

I watched our Prime Minister’s year end interview with Peter Mansbridge on CBC news the other night and was shocked. First, was Harper’s quote from his first overseas trip to Berlin for the G8: “Climate change is perhaps the biggest threat to confront the future of humanity today.” Wow – was this the same Stephen Harper who had declared climate change to be a socialist plot?

And then came the equally astonishing quote: “We owe it to future generations, we as Canada. When you’re linking climate change to greenhouse gas emissions, we owe it to future generations to do whatever we can to address this world problem. We should make a substantial contribution to confronting this challenge. Talking the talk doesn’t work anymore. It’s time to walk the walk.” Another Wow – was this the same Stephen Harper who had led Canada to yearly “Fossil of the Year” awards for having no policies to deal with accelerating climate change?

As he stumbled through his explanations of those quotes, I wondered how it was possible for a public figure to lie so publicly without any apparent shame. He claimed all GHG reduction benefits from closing coal fired power plants as if that was a federal initiative, and not Ontario’s provincial policy. He forgot to mention that any reductions from Ontario’s initiative were offset by rapidly rising GHG emissions from the oil industry in Alberta.

It’s really all about power: political power and energy power and how to keep the myth alive. Whether it is pipelines from Alberta or plutonium in Ontario, our politicians will do their best to spin the story to their advantage. While Ontarian’s did very well to phase out coal fired electricity plants, they would be wise to keep a close eye on the first private plutonium ownership known as Bruce Nuclear. Its cosy relationship with the Ontario Energy Board does not bode well when the CEO of Bruce recommends that his private corporation take over control of all of Ontario’s nuclear production.

It’s also still worth keeping a close eye on McGuinty’s legacy with the gas plant scandal. Anytime a politico has all the hard drives wiped clean, you know something is rotten in the riding. Here was a case when a good energy power idea – clean electrical production – lost out to the political power incentive.

We constantly have to contend with the constant pipelines pitch – whether it be Enbridge or Trans-Canada, the ads are all about how good, green, and clean the transportation of tar sands oil and fracked gas will be for the environment, our children, and, of course, the economy. Brought to you by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. If you don’t like our ads, we will have the Canadian Revenue Agency audit your local environmental defence charity. Another Wow!

Now, all of us have to admit that we love oil. It’s in our clothes, our bread bag tabs, our plastic water bottles, and anyone who drives a car needs oil. It needs to get to us somehow, so we have a choice of pipelines, rail cars, transport trucks, and tanker ships. The question is not whether we need oil in our current energy mix until we wean ourselves to something more sustainable. We need oil. Period.

What we also need are federal and provincial policies that ensure that the production and transportion of that resource are done in the safest, most environmentally responsible ways possible. We also need policies that encourage the development of alternative energy sources on a level playing field by ending the ridiculous subsidies now being given to Big Oil and by imposing meaningful royalties on a finite resource.

Does this mean that Canadians should consider a National Energy Policy? Of course! And all necessary provincial ministers should be sitting down with the federal government to come to consensus on how to plan for the present of our seniors and the future of our children. Does this mean Canada will institute a Carbon Tax? Guaranteed!

It was at this point in the Mansbridge interview that Stephen Harper lost it. He just couldn’t bring himself to say, “Carbon tax.” Heaven forbid that he acknowledge that Stephane Dion was right all along. Harper tried to present it as a “levy” as per the Alberta tech fund, a provincial and not a federal initiative, by the way, that “taxes” GHGs at a nominal rate and invests it in alternative energy research.

Sadly, Our Government’s leader couldn’t even get out the word “levy” easily, finally settling on “pricing” carbon. We can play with tax, levy, price, and other words to pay for our excessive production of carbon dioxide and methane, but it all means the same thing. The planet is saying, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later, but you will pay.”

When asked if he thought climate change was still the biggest threat to humanity, Harper added the economy and radicalized extremists to the list. He still can’t see the difference between a planetary issue affecting all life on earth and the petty squabbles of power hungry humans.

We will all pay for that lack of vision.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon