City is ignoring climate plan

Re Hurricane Harvey — Lessons for Toronto: Editorial, Sept. 1 More concerning than city council’s decision to reject a stormwater levy is Mayor John Tory’s apparent reticence to fully implement Toronto’s long-term climate action plan, called TransformTO.

Without TransformTO, Toronto stands to miss its 2050 greenhouse-gas emissions-reduction goal by about 8.7 million tonnes annually and future resiliency to extreme weather is put into question.

Although unanimously approved by council, Tory equivocated on TransformTO when he stated, “My main concern is that it’s a very broad plan, that no matter who is looking at it, I think would agree it’s not possible to do everything at once.”

The parks and environment department has requested just $6.7 million to fund TransformTO in 2018, a mere fraction spent by the city following the July 8, 2013, flood or the ice storm six months later.

We must learn from hurricane Harvey that broad, ambitious plans are necessary in a world that’s increasingly subject to climate destabilization. Joe Davidson, Toronto Not only did the mayor, executive committee and council miss an opportunity to advance a stormwater tax on homeowners to deal with floodwaters, they ignored their commercial friends.

The city is being really tough on new, small residential driveways but gives a pass to massive big-box stores and their parking lots, which are each the equivalent of thousands of driveways.

Then there’s the related sewage overflow, just ignored while councillors spin their wheels on ideas for other levels of government and the working stiffs. Mike McKeon, Toronto