Editor,
My husband and I are a statistic. We left the city for a rural life, and we chose Meaford. Then COVID hit the world, and fear forced us to take a hard look at what matters most. The climate crisis trumps everything.
Friends and family come and go. Work paradigms have shifted. We shop differently. Social justice and gender equality issues have asked us to rethink what it means to be compassionate. But the climate crisis, global warming, and species extinction is here to stay.
So when I received a letter from the Conservative MP in my former riding, Leona Alleslev, I was shocked by what she had to say. Not a single mention of climate change. Not a word, not even a breath, about protecting the environment, greenspace expansion, or waste reduction. And she thinks she’s serving her constituents?
Two weeks later, I was solicited by Mr. Erin O’Toole, in the form of a personal letter (my quirky name spelled correctly thank you very much). Like Alleslev, not a mention about the climate crisis. Only shallow, slanderous allegations aimed at his opponents (then the infamous invoices followed). Is bullying what we reward in our leaders?
Natural disasters of all kinds are increasing exponentially. No ecosystem, that is, no place, person, animal, vegetable, or insect is exempt from the irrevocable effects of greenhouse gases. By mid century, the polar icecaps will have melted. Yet our political leaders are presenting us with a platform of business as usual. I’m insulted. Hello Canada. Business as usual? Look around.
The municipality of Summerside, Prince Edward Island (they happen to be Canada’s climate leader) constructed a smart grid that connects to smart appliances in people’s homes. These smart appliances generate heat for the home, but it also relays excess energy back to the grid. (http://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/06/15/summerside-pei-little-canadian-city-inadvertent-climate-leader)
The municipality of Ithaca, New York, (population 30,000), has raised $100m by offering investors entry to a sustainable technology lending program. The goal is to decarbonize thousands of privately owned commercial and residential buildings across the city through retrofits – installing electric heating systems, solar panels and battery storage as well as reducing energy use and greening the electric grid.
(http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/19/ithaca-new-york-raised-100m-climate-proof-buildings)
Similarly, the Colorado neighbourhood of Basalt Vista has 27 smart homes sharing energy generated via rooftop solar panels and stored in batteries. It’s a good example of a resilient grid that doesn’t need fuel or an outside operator to keep the power on.
In Seaham, County Durham, UK, the municipality and industry repurposed an abandoned coalmine to generate heat using geothermal technology. The entire town is heated this way.
Clean energy transitions are happening where there is political will. People are innovating. Jobs are being created. We cannot afford to do nothing. We need to make noise.
Speak up and tell the leaders you entrust with your vote–federal, provincial and especially municipal– that fighting climate change is the single most important issue facing life on earth.
Caryn Colman , Meaford
