Editor:
An open letter to Burnaby North-Seymour MP Terry Beech:
I am writing you this public letter today, as a constituent, to respectfully request you make a green new deal the highest priority of all government files as you start your second term as our MP.
As you never responded to my letter dated Aug. 29, in which I requested a more detailed account of federal climate action spending in comparison to fossil fuel subsidies, I have done some of my own research.
While it is difficult to single out federal fossil fuel subsidies, it is estimated that the provincial and federal governments are subsidizing the fossil fuel industry $3.3 billion annually.
This dwarfs Environment and Climate Change Canada’s estimate that in 2018-19 only $940 million will be spent on measures that will or could reduce Canadian GHG emissions.
Considering this, it is of no great surprise that Canada is ranked among the worst of the G7 nations when it comes to climate action, and that our current climate plan puts the planet on a trajectory of plus-4C warming.
This is a trajectory that will result in runaway climate change for all future generations. In recognizing this, I would respectfully request you be a fierce advocate for - at the very least - our federal government spending more money on climate action than on fossil fuel subsidies.
Furthermore, I also request you be a fierce advocate for changes to our government’s climate action plan that are in line with meeting our Paris Accord targets.
One key way that our federal government can display better leadership on climate action is to stop flogging the Trans Mountain pipeline as a solution to the climate crisis.
As David Suzuki has said, suggesting we need TMX to pay for climate solutions is similar to suggesting we need to sell cigarette to pay for lung cancer research.
We need a leader who is going to rally our citizens to the flight for a sustainable climate, not muddy the waters around the realities of climate math.
Potentially more traction-able is the suggestion we not withhold climate action funding until this climate-killing project is operational.
By now, I think everyone can agree that through legal opposition and civil disobedience, the progress of TMX is going to continue to be slow.
If our federal government is so confident that this pipeline will be built, and its revenues can fund an effective green transition, then make the funds available for a green new deal now and use the predicted revenues from TMX to repay this loan once it is operational.
We know this funding is urgently required now, as the IPCC has reported we only have 11 years to make drastic changes to our energy systems to ward off runaway climate change. Surely the cost of carrying a loan for a green new deal can be rationalized by this urgent need.
As you know, climate change is the greatest crisis of our generation, Mr. Beech. I would argue it is actually the greatest crisis humanity has ever faced. As our ability or inability to thwart runaway climate change will have immense ramifications for our children and all future generations, I urge you to be courageous and bold in your advocating for a sustainable climate.
In my opinion, this is truly the Canadian way forward.
David Hollingworth, North Vancouver
