Do what must be done on climate

Dear Editor:

The earth is on fire. As I sit and watch our forests burn, I question when our leaders will step up to do what must be done.

Violent storms, soaring temperatures and horrific forest fires are recurring. This climate change is the greatest battle of our generation.

Canada generates less than one per cent of world carbon pollution. Even if Canada stopped using fossil fuels completely, our climate would continue to change due to pollution from beyond our borders. China, Russia and India pollute more CO2 in one week than all of Canada in a year.

However, Canada has the benefit of more than nine per cent of the world’s forests. We could improve our environment by taking better care of our forests. Science tells us that healthy forests consume carbon dioxide and make a significant contribution to a healthy climate.

The Trudeau Liberals are focused on imposing a carbon tax to increase government spending. These carbon taxes will do very little to reduce CO2 emissions or protect us from climate change.

Since 1990, wildfires across Canada have consumed an average of 2.5 million hectares of forest a year. Bureaucrats have been trained to say that fires are inevitable and may even be good for the environment. A valuable natural resource is being destroyed and these forest fires contribute significantly to CO2 pollution. Canada’s forests are currently managed in a typically Canadian bureaucratic manner with ambiguous leadership and responsibility.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre co-ordinates activity with the federal government, provinces and corporations to study, partner, enhance and influence forest management.

While provinces struggle to find the resources to battle forest fires, the Trudeau Liberals hide behind empty environmental platitudes. The Trudeau Liberals are providing more funding to the CBC each year than to protecting our forests.

This is a call to action. We must better develop our forests as a tool to positively respond to the reality of climate change. The Trudeau Liberals have an opportunity to provide real leadership and sufficient funding for a plan, equipment and personnel to proactively manage our Canadian forests. Think of this as a creative way to respond to a pressing challenge that we can do. One small measure of success would be a greater capacity to control forest fires and to reduce the smoke from wildfires.

Nero played the fiddle as Rome burned. Our homes are burning and the Trudeau Liberals are focused on carbon taxes.

Bobbe Wemock Kelowna