Letter to the Editor
Editor,
Dinosaurs?
With respect to the recent decision by Meaford council to jump on the climate change emergency bandwagon, and your subsequent flailing of councillor Greenfield as a “dinosaur”, I would like to offer a few thoughts.
There is little or no meaning to any municipal council, large or small, endorsing matters that are 100% out of their control. It is a gesture, not an action.
Yes, there are many very serious man-made issues facing this planet, of which climate-changing carbon emission is one of the worst.
Others include:
– The destruction of ocean habitat through both plastic/garbage pollution, and overfishing. (The majority of the world’s population depends on the oceans for sustenance.)
– The threat of nuclear war, as more rogue nations become armed with nuclear weapons.
– The ramping up of both domestic gun violence and terror-related attacks on civilian populations around the world.
– The creeping desertification in vast regions of Africa and Asia, leading to starvation and disease.
– Political malfeasance and poverty leading to mass migrations of refugees to seek safety in ‘western’ nations.
– The imminent rise of diseases that do not respond to established immunization protocols.
All of these can be classified as emergencies, or at least will very soon be classified as emergencies by someone.
Will we simply get out the motion pad and try to look good to ourselves?
A few decades ago, we were faced with supposed localized Great Lakes emergencies.
A proliferation of zebra mussels would apparently destroy the lakes. Then it was Purple Loosestrife, then it was Americans tapping too much water out of Lake Michigan.
Looks like all of these were contained for the present, without any motions from council.
Before council votes to erect a statue of Greta Thunberg beside the new library, perhaps they could deal with the actual local issues they were elected to address.
Mike Robertson, Meaford
