LETTER: Canada can\u2019t afford to wait to address climate change<\/p>\n
Published 6:30 am Saturday, February 28, 2026<\/p>\n
Are you concerned about climate change? Me, too. In fact, most of us are.<\/p>\n
Recent polling shows 78% of Canadians are worried about the future and want government action on climate change.<\/p>\n
In 2015, 195 nations, including Canada, signed The Paris Agreement, with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.<\/p>\n
Because we have not done enough to limit greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), which trap heat in the atmosphere, climate scientists say we are headed for a 2-3 degree C rise in global temperatures, setting the stage for a fiery \u201chellish hothouse Earth\u201d (The Guardian).<\/p>\n
As we directly experience the impact of weather-related catastrophes like the 2021 heat dome (when 619 British Columbians perished), concern will only grow. That was the summer the village of Lytton burned to the ground, leaving two dead. Many of the 32,000 people evacuated remain displaced.<\/p>\n
Flooding in the Fraser Valley followed, displacing nearly 20,000 and costing taxpayers over $1 billion in infrastructure repair.<\/p>\n
The Chinese Zodiac says 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse. It may simply be The Year of Fire.<\/p>\n
Scientists say we are reaching a point of no return in the destabilization of Earth\u2019s regulatory systems.<\/p>\n
Science has confirmed beyond a doubt that the primary cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
All governments in Canada have continually failed to meet their own climate targets, perhaps because they continue to invest in the source of the problem \u2013 expanding the fossil fuel industry.<\/p>\n
Who is going to buy all that expanded LNG production? Markets like India and Pakistan are leap-frogging to clean energy, like solar.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about China?\u201d is no longer an argument for delaying climate action. While Canada\u2019s GHGs continue to rise, China\u2019s emissions are starting to drop thanks to widespread use of solar and renewables.<\/p>\n
Yet climate delayers will harness the wicked trio of social media, AI, and disinformation to spread confusion and block action. Don\u2019t fall prey. Check trusted sources; seek scientific evidence.<\/p>\n
When it comes to climate change, the Yale School of Climate Communication puts it simply and succinctly: Scientists agree. It\u2019s real. It\u2019s us. It\u2019s bad. There\u2019s hope.<\/p>\n
No one wants higher taxes, so let\u2019s start prioritizing how tax dollars are spent. Let\u2019s insist that our money goes to initiatives that support life, not destroy it.<\/p>\n
Withdrawing subsidies from products that cause harm and directing them towards community well-being will give us more options for life-sustaining initiatives that address affordability.<\/p>\n
Trust is eroded and despair sets in when everyone sees the crisis, yet governments ignore it.<\/p>\n
Talk to your elected representatives. Tell them you expect them to acknowledge the problem, follow the science, engage and educate citizens, and foster hope \u2014 by implementing the necessary solutions \u2014 now!<\/p>\n
Because later is too late.<\/p>\n
Karyn Woodland<\/p>\n
Colwood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LETTER: Canada can\u2019t afford to wait to address climate change Published 6:30 am Saturday, February 28, 2026 Are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-505537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}