Have you noticed? Climate Change and Environmental News have become a mainstay across all of our media – newspapers, social media platforms, broadcast news, podcasts and so on. Awareness is on the rise – but so are misinformation and politicising. Like many of the key issues of the day – there are divergent, often passionately held views on climate change. At Sustainable Orillia we do our best to stay current with trends, developments and public opinion regarding climate change and sustainability. We do our best to anchor our messaging and actions on facts – scientific, statistical and corroborated.
Recently it’s been disappointing to see high-profile elected leaders abandon their leadership accountabilities in the battle to reduce carbon emissions. Arguments against the carbon tax may win votes and hurrahs … but a bigger price will be paid without it, sooner than later. Sadly, these leaders don’t use their platforms to inform and help Canadians understand why programs like the carbon tax are important. Increasingly our elected officials tell us what we want to hear versus what we need to understand. Interestingly, recent editorials have called for more collaboration, civility and fact sharing from our political leaders to address not only climate change, but other key issues we are facing.
Thankfully there are sources for fact-based perspectives and intelligence on climate change and earlier this month – on April 2nd … a Sustainable Orillia colleague canvassed the daily media to pull together the following sampling … fact-based articles and clips we thought you might find interesting.
From Global News:
‘The climate crisis is here’: B.C. warns of early start to 2024 wildfire season
Last summer saw fires—and smoke from those fires—right across Canada. BC is sounding the alarm even earlier this year. There are still a number of “zombie” fires burning in the province and the dry winter weather has done little to improve conditions. Read to find out more about that province’s concern.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10367524/bc-wildfire-drought-snowpack-concerns-latest/
From the CBC:
Residents stroll river bed in midst of drought.
In Prince George, B.C. an ongoing drought in the area now means that the point where two rivers, the Nechako and the Fraser, meet is now just a dry river bed. What does this mean for the area?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/dry-nechako-riverbed-in-prince-george-1.7159123
From chocolate to home insurance, climate change is making life more expensive.
Weather changes around the globe are creating shortages—and shortages lead to higher prices. Olive oil, rice, and chocolate are the latest examples. Click on the link below to read the full article.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/climate-change-inflation-1.7155668
The current carbon tax debate is important — it’s just not serious.
Many politicians in Canada oppose the price on carbon—especially since it increased on April 1st (no joke, folks). Some deny it’s working—even though it is—and some don’t appear at all serious about what they would propose in its place. Shouldn’t we expect more seriousness about a serious problem? See below.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carbon-tax-trudeau-poilievre-1.7159005