Editor: As a self-appointed and volunteer carbon buster and activist, I ask newly-elected municipal politicians to confront the gathering storm of global warming by becoming activists.
You can do this, because no law forbids it. And you should, because the provable reality is that we do not have much more time before global warming results in catastrophic changes to our climate and a poor future for our kids. Let me explain.
A thousand years ago, Vikings attempted to live in Iceland, a harsh Arctic environment, based on an economic model of dairy farms. After several hundred years, they either died or retreated back to Europe. Not a happy story.
Now fast forward to today when Iceland, like many countries, experienced economic collapse due to the failure of the international banking system. But unlike other countries, Iceland did not use conventional strategies of financial bailouts using public money.
Instead, they let investors lose their own money on ill-advised economic schemes. Early results suggest they may have succeeded in rescuing their economy, unlike Europe and, perhaps, North America.
OK, now use that concept of a non-traditional strategy to address the issue of global warming. As a local government, you will be utilizing a conventional strategy of reducing local carbon emissions. This is good, but it is not enough.
Unfortunately, this strategy will not protect citizens from the impacts of climate breakdown 鈥� just as the Viking鈥檚 local dairy farms did not protect their citizens from a harsh Arctic environment.
This is because the air in our atmosphere is universal; that is, it is shared by the entire world. So it is physically impossible to reduce the level of carbon dioxide by focusing on just your local community. Therefore, I suggest that you reach outside your community and outside your traditional political role. Become an activist.
As just one glaring example, senior governments encourage the export of B.C. coal. But carbon emissions resulting from burning that coal elsewhere in the world equal all emissions from all other sources in B.C. So even if you reduce local carbon emissions in your municipality, you still will fail to prevent the catastrophic breakdown of your local climate.
To successfully protect your citizens, I respectfully submit that you exit your comfort zone. I request that you must reach out to provincial, national, and yes, even world communities. Using my one example, help senior governments realize the absolute need to phase out coal exports. Only then can you minimize the harsh and certain impacts of global warming on our kids鈥橻 future.
And sure, you may not want to be an activist. And yes, my request will be pooh-poohed by many. But the physical and universal realities of climate breakdown do not care about traditional political roles, or your comfort zone, or your kids鈥� future 鈥� just as a harsh Arctic environment did not care about Viking dairy farms or their kids鈥� future.
It is a time of historic crisis. You have an opportunity to become a leader.
Peter Nix,
Maple Bay
