Climate action is needed now

By Letter to the Editor on November 19, 2020.

The federal government recently announced it may delay its climate action plan another year until 2021.
The Liberal government was elected in part because of a policy platform that included some meaningful actions to combat climate change. The Liberal party has made such promises in the past. None of Canada’s emissions reduction plans has ever been met, with Canadians simply admitting failure and setting less ambitious goals every time a deadline arrives. We are currently on course to miss our 2030 emissions reduction goal by at least 15 per cent.
The Liberal party has continually demonstrated that climate action is not a priority. Citizens continue to struggle to take personal action on climate in the face of high costs to retrofit houses and adopt energy-efficient transportation. Government economic support in Canada continues to skew to fossil fuels. Employment in the “green” economy, a fast-growing sector, is stunted compared to what it could be.
The famous characterization of Canada as being led by either Mr. Delay or Mr. Deny still holds true. The time for decisive action has come, and our government must stop prevaricating and take concrete steps to address the climate catastrophe, not in 2021, or 2022, or 2023, but right now.
Tom Moffatt
Lethbridge