Dear Editor
Both your opinion editorial and Keith Baldrey's column in the Record’s July 8 opinion section are both so on-message about climate change. The important word there is “change.” Mankind has been destroying our planet’s complex ecosystem for so long that we are now seeing the indisputable facts about that change as the Earth tries to correct the damage we have caused. The problem facing scientists is they can only speculate what happens next as that change continues unabated. Our governments have placed their focus on the economy and total reliance on fossil fuels, overcorrecting this change. Because this is a global problem, think of each level of government as a deer caught in the headlights. Any token measures they take are akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, to use that well-worn phrase.
We are being bombarded by advertising that tells us transporting fossil fuels is safe because of all those nice regular people who do their jobs diligently which is hardly the point at all. We are told that LNG is supposedly the least harmful of all the fossil fuels, which is not backed by science nor fact.
The real issue is we are killing the planet and in the process of doing that, we kill all living species on Earth. Yes, that means humans, too. Ocean temperatures around the globe are rising and becoming too acidic for marine life. If the oceans die, we die. We are denuding our forests, and we all know they give us air to breathe. It has been said many times that our planet is in danger; it is not. Our planet has experienced and survived much harsher conditions, however, living species on the planet did not. Think of that fact when you next hug your children and grandchildren.
Change is coming faster than anticipated, so drastic action is needed now.
This is a global issue, yes. However, the first important change we must collectively make is to vote for politicians who place our survival first over money and certainly any reliance on fossil fuels.
Gavin Wishart, New Westminster
