Make a positive impact
On the heels of Powell River Regional District’s decision to support Lafarge Canada Inc.’s coal expansion proposal [“Rural directors support coal expansion,” September 18], the latest report on climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is telling us, with a confidence level tantamount to certainty, sobering news.
Humans are causing the world to heat up.
We have already burned through half of the global carbon budget (after which global warming will exceed two degrees Celsius—what many scientists have identified as a red line for our planet).
The last three decades have progressively been the “warmest decades in recorded history.” The planet is heating up and we’re breaking new climate records every day.
We all need a slice of the economic pie to survive and thrive.
Equally true is that there are no jobs on a dead planet, and carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere do not observe national boundaries, no matter who puts them there.
With ever greater frequency we hear that top level government officials and consultants are discussing the need for political/economic solutions to climate change, preferably market-based (read: putting a realistic price on fossil fuels), and how to convince a questioning public that such solutions are both necessary and possible.
In the wake of Dr. Paul Martiquet’s letter to the provincial government on Lafarge’s application, I wrote to the doctor: “I ask, will you also support inclusion in the health impact assessment of potential health effects of global warming due to human use of fossil fuels? I believe such effects should be given attention at least proportionate to the scope and intensity of their impacts. The bodies of air and water that occupy much of Earth’s living environment are seamless. In them, molecules spread around the globe in a short time. There is really only one lifeboat Earth, and we all share it in common.”
Let’s put our hearts and minds to the problem. Do all you can at home. Support progressive groups, political parties and movements at all levels who see that economic justice and environmental sanity are not opposites. They are interdependent necessities for the future.
Rob Arnstein
Klahanie Drive
Many join in walk
In response to Susan Jersak’s letter regarding the Community Walk for Reconciliation, I wanted to clear up the misconception that only one church responded to the invitation from Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation [“Bridge to reconciliation,” October 2]. Actually, there were people from a number of different churches who came out to walk alongside our first nations brothers and sisters and to stand in solidarity with them.
I am a member of Kelly Creek Community Church, and there were a few of us from our small church who attended. A number of folks I know from Evangel Pentecostal Church and Livingwater Foursquare Church were there as well. I’m sure there were others I don’t know in the crowd representing their own churches. Perhaps the ministers did not respond in writing to the invitation they received, but some of the people of their congregations did respond and show up.
It was a blessing for me to be able to stand beside, and comfort, a dear friend who suffered abuse at a residential school as a child. Although we were unable to see or hear the ceremonial proceedings, it was still a profound and meaningful moment for both of us.
My gratitude goes to the organizers and to the people of Tla’amin for inviting the community out to walk beside them. My prayer is that the symbolic act of burying the hatchet will become a reality among all of the groups of our area.
Catherine Morris
Highway 101
Impossible dream
You would not believe the impossible dream that I’ve just awoken from. I dreamed that I was reading the newspaper and it said Powell River Regional District supported an application for thermal coal [“Rural directors support coal expansion,” September 18].
As I continued consuming the paper my eyes glanced upon a colourful public notice of a forum being hosted by the regional district. The subject matter was the impacts of sea level rise in our region. See, I told you that you would not believe it.
Steve Perkins
Blair Road, Texada Island
Mail delivery arrives
At 11:30 am on Monday, September 30, I mailed a carton of some 15 books to a friend in Richmond, BC. I phoned to let them know and expect it in a few days [“Snail mail,” September 25].
Imagine my surprise and delight when they phoned the next morning to say that the carton was delivered to their home at 9:30 am. Remarkable and noteworthy given all the heat Canada Post takes.
John Uren
Kiwanis Avenue
