Cannings turning climate change into election issue

Re: “Hundreds of people died from the heat,” (July 14).

MP Richard Cannings was quite dramatic in his piece on the effects of the current heat wave and climate change. But he’s too vague on what corrective actions might be taken.

Cannings is a politician looking for re-election, and wants to ride the climate pony for a win. We can’t really blame him; everybody else is doing it.

Politicians are big on virtue signaling and declaring lofty climate ambitions for the future which allows them to evade the political blowback from short term actions. That’s why we hear goals of net zero emissions in 2050, legislated conversion to electric vehicles in 2040 and wussy bans on plastic drinking straws and grocery bags instead of more immediate and meaningful actions.

They keep grinding away about killing fossil fuels and pipelines, yet our lifestyles (including theirs) and the economy are consuming oil at an ever increasing rate. They’re big on wind and solar power too, although they’ve never identified the net environmental impacts, gains or costs of this. It’s all pie in the sky. We’re being sold a pig in a poke, but the political benefits of this rhetoric seem quite tangible.

They’ve really drilled down on carbon taxes, and seem to be getting away with it; even though the B.C. government’s own data shows that carbon taxes have done nothing to reduce emissions over the past 13 years. It’s a mystery why this is never an election issue, especially when people keep bellyaching about the price of gas.

We need a picture of Msrs Trudeau, Horgan and Cannings on every gas pump to remind us where a lot of the cost comes from.

Please Mr Cannings; it’s still safe for old people to go out in the heat. The key is adaptability and good judgement. All species, including humans, need to adapt to their environment instead of trying to change it. The elderly are frail and suffer worse from any sudden change, be it COVID, temperature or living circumstances.

I’m 74 and walked many fields doing crop inspections during the recent “heat dome” crisis — and survived.

The solutions is to start and finish early and wear lightcoloured, loose-fitting clothing and a white hat; just like the tree huggers do. Drink lots of water, use a wet neck scarf, walk slowly, and carry a cell phone to summon help before the buzzards can peck your eyeballs out.