A brief report on the July 29 Climate Action in Toronto-Davenport
More than 35 actions took place across the country. It was a weekday in the middle of the summer holidays, and it rained – and in spite of that, a small but committed group showed up at the office of Julie Dzerowicz, MP for Davenport. We talked with Julie, presented her with a symbolic fire extinguisher, and she signed the pledge, committing to do everything in her power to support her constituents’ calls for:
Some very wet demonstrators!/photo MCM
an immediate moratorium on new fossil fuel approvals, and a freeze on all fossil fuel expansion projects under construction – including the Trans Mountain Pipeline
legislation for a just transition to support workers and communities, especially Indigenous and remote communities as we move towards a 100% renewable energy future
MP Dzerowicz signs the pledge/photo MCM
It turns out that this is quite a breakthrough. I believe she is the first Liberal MP to sign this pledge, and it has been hailed by environmentalists as a milestone. I hope we can continue making progress, and that Julie can get her government to act like this is an emergency!
Certainly, they have made little progress so far, making a lot of promises, with little to no follow up. The international Climate Action Tracker rates Canada’s efforts at climate action as insufficient, and contributing to a 3 degree temperature rise, which would be catastrophic.
After signing the pledge, MP Dzerowicz specifically encouraged us to keep coming out and making our opinions known. Our letters, emails and demonstrations support MPs and give them more credibility in advocating for more climate action. In David Suzuki’s list of the top ten things you can do to help fight climate change, number one is: Urge government to take bold, ambitious climate change now. So – we all need to get active, and support the planet!
With the pandemic emergency and lockdown, it’s been quite a while since I last wrote a blog. And although it may be temporary, for the moment Covid-19 seems mostly under control here in Canada. (I hope your experience of the pandemic, lockdowns etc. was/is not too terrible!) But the real emergency, threatening all life on the planet, is still the climate emergency. And I am going to tell you what you can do about it this week.
Why now? The climate crisis is not just here, it’s right here in our faces. On Tuesday, July 20th, Toronto, along with much of the rest of Canada, had seriously toxic air – for Toronto, the second worst air quality of any city in the world, identified as ‘unhealthy’. (More info on toxic haze from forest fires here if you need it.)
FYI: I recommend that everyone download the excellent IQAir app to display and track local air quality on your phone along with your weather widget. It is a fantastic app, and very transparent about its data.
Toronto from my deck today – level 125 according to IQAir, ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ Photo/MCM
My other scary in-person climate crisis moment recently was in Killarney, Ontario in June. In the middle of what should have been the North’s notoriously horrible blackfly season, there were no bugs, due to a drought. This is unheard of. Great for hikers – not so good for the birds!
On a lighter note, I have to include a link to Wade Hemsworth’s funny 1949 song and short NFB animated film about the experience of blackflies in Northern Ontario, here, in case you haven’t seen it. Even nightmarish clouds of biting insects are an essential part of the Canadian experience – cultural and environmental. We need them!
The climate crisis is actually here – now! And our government is carrying on with business as usual. A majority of Canadians see this climate crisis and want action now, before it’s too late. Trudeau talks about problems, but does very little. So we need to get out there in numbers and demand that the government act like it’s an emergency, to reduce emissions and at least slow down climate change.
This week you can join a protest that’s going on across Canada organized by 350.org, an international climate change action group. Their message:
On Thursday, July 29th, people from every part of the country are organizing and going to their MP’s local office (or one nearby) to present a pledge, and possibly a fire extinguisher to the MP if possible. This means you can join a national protest in your own neighbourhood. What could be more important than that? Click here to find a local action near you, or set one up in your riding yourself.
No one can say this is not their issue, with an endless stream of worsening climate disasters in the news – and in our home cities! And you will feel better when you have done something positive about it, however small. Plus – this is an easy one: just go to this link, RSVP to your closest event, and show up with a sign! (Or sign up at the same link to organize an event in your own riding.) Don’t wait for someone else to do what we all need to do. And do tell all your friends, family and neighbours about this. A large turnout will make this more effective. We all need to add our voices!
Photo/MCM
Image/Sheree Tams
And finally, I have gone ahead and registered and am organizing an action at the Davenport riding office of Julie Dzerowicz, near Dufferin and Bloor. More info here.
So – you should join me if it’s at all possible! And I could definitely use some help preparing for this. Get in touch! As well, I will be handing out buttons like in the photo above.
350.org – On Fire Art Tool Kit
It’s an emergency – let’s act like it! On Thursday!
When I used to teach the causes of World War One, I would say that for anything this huge to happen, causation is going be massive and complicated. (See Margaret MacMillan’s book The War that Ended Peace: 784 pages, or 32 hours of audio!) The question of climate inaction is so massive and complicated that I’ll just be looking at the some of the most massive factors, focusing on the individual for now. More to come in later posts.
Why is it so hard?
For people living in poverty, there is of course a whole series of obstacles to living green. In that situation, you have to focus on survival, and feeding your kids, with no time or energy for much else. For the others, there are lots of obstacles too.
The complexity of the situation is a barrier to action in itself. It takes a lot of time and energy to understand even the basics of the environmental problems we’re facing, and no one has time to spare these days. The media are more interested in getting our attention and our money, than in giving us balanced, responsible information. Corporate interests spend a ton of money to confuse and mislead us. (Here is a quirky animated history of oil companies doing this, seen below.)
Exxon scientists realized the future effects of climate change very early on
Choosing the greenest course of action can also be extremely complex and difficult for each of us. Even if people have a good understanding of environmental issues based on solid information, they may still disagree as to what best to do since their priorities, life experiences and personal situation are all so different. But whatever the result, we do need to prioritize changing to a more sustainable lifestyle. If not us, who? If not now, when?
The pleasures of an unsustainable lifestyle
Bottom line, most of us in OECD countries have a pretty amazing lifestyle. Basically, lots of everything. No one actually wants to give this up. And our brains make it very difficult to change, thanks to cognitive biases. Outdated circuitry in our brains influences our behaviour profoundly, without us realizing it. Confirmation bias helps us ignore evidence which is contrary to our current beliefs, and grasp at anything which seems to justify our position. Loss aversion makes any loss much more painful than any similar gain. The bystander effect allows us to think that someone else will solve the problem. We have problems paying attention to distant problems, especially when the worst effects are in the future. This BBC article analyzes a bunch more ‘brain biases’. Definitely worth reading.
How we can make the change – Just show up!
Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean we can’t do it. People have succeeded against the odds in the past, and so can we. The animated Story of Change shows it can be done, looking at how peaceful change has worked in the past. Voting with our shopping dollars and living in a way consistent with our values are important things, but we need to be active and demand that governments and corporations be pro-climate too.
Time to get out on the streets and demand change
I have been on some demonstrations in the past few months, (see my pictures below). They were peaceful, showed me that other people were also concerned about things, and made me feel I was doing something concrete and visible. We need to get over the idea that regular people don’t demonstrate. They do! And the media ignore it, so people don’t feel it matters. The answer is – more people taking part.
July 17th
May 1st
May 15th
Note the sign I’m holding, above. Here’s the full quote:
The biggest weapon people have is to try to make you think that you don’t matter. It is to say, “This doesn’t change anything.” Because if you can convince people that it doesn’t matter, then they won’t do it and people can go on as though it’s business as usual.
In spite of all these things holding us back, we really don’t have time for excuses. We all need to do whatever we can, and more. Here’s Greta:
I don’t want your hope, I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic…. And then I want you to act, I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house was on fire, because it is.
The big thing we can all do right now is get out and be counted in Greta’s Global Climate Strike. Here is the link for the Toronto event, which is Friday, September 27th, 11:00 to 2:00 at Queen’s Park. We need to get a crowd bigger than the Raptor’s parade to show our leaders that we demand climate action! For people anywhere else in the world, check here for an event near you.
This is the image for the International Climate Change Strike, Toronto event. Click here for more info.
So let’s all plan on being there. You are needed! I will find a good place for a bunch of us to meet up, and put it out on the blog. Let’s get out there together and make some noise… Let governments and corporations know what you think. If crowds can force China to back down, then surely we can make our democratic government act on our wishes!
Where are we going with all this change?
The goal is a sustainable lifestyle where we’re not burning up the planet, and where climate change can be mitigated, facilitated by laws and policies.If you’re not familiar with it, check out The Green New Deal, a plan for climate justice in Canada.
Planethugger 