In difficult times nations need leaders, not rulers. The greater the difficulties that confront a state, the greater the risks if you can't tell one from the other.
We are embarking on difficult times and, in this case, that goes for the entire world. An era of major climate change is upon us. We thought it wouldn't be here for at least a few decades, even generations perhaps. We were wrong. It's here. It's not going away. It is going to steadily become more disruptive, more destructive.
So where is the leadership we need so badly right this very minute and for the indefinite future? The simple but sad answer is it's not to be found, not among the current crop of pols. Tommy-boy Mulcair isn't rising to the challenge, neither is Trudeau the Lesser. Sideshow Steve just wants it all to go away.
But what can they do, what should they do? We Canadians are barely 35-million in a world of 7-plus billion, roughly one half of one percent of mankind - a drop in the humanity bucket. That is the basis for many arguments by those who would have us do nothing. We don't matter. Except that we do matter. We might not be capable of making a huge impact on a global scale but that doesn't mean we don't have to do our share. And, on the domestic front, there is almost no end of measures we need to implement for our own personal, selfish benefit. And we need leadership to build the public will to do what is necessary and, in some cases, already overdue.
We need to address our long-neglected essential infrastructure that is already failing even without the coming impacts of climate change. By one estimate, rehabilitating our national infrastructure could come with a trillion dollar price tag. Talk about stimulus spending. We probably can't do it all but that's part of climate change adaptation, making strategic decisions about what must be preserved and what has to be sacrificed.
Research published last week show that climate change is increasing the frequency of ENSO events, El Nino and La Nina, that trigger floods in some places and droughts in others around the world. We haven't even begun to figure out who this new ENSO (Southern Oscillation) situation will interact with the new Polar Jet.
A leader knows that the process begins with dialogue, getting as much information as possible to the public and then presenting ideas and building consensus. That's what leadership is all about, leading in a way that others will follow.
If you think there's no urgency to this, that calls for action are alarmist, think again. Simon Fraser University's Adaptation to Climate Change Team, is a think tank that monitors the onset and pace of climate change, identifies risks and opportunities for adaptation. It has just released a study that reveals existing and future threats to Canadian agriculture and our (your and my) food supply.
The report is blunt - our agricultural sector is in for more droughts and floods of increasing frequency and severity. These extreme weather events are already degrading our crop production. We urgently need to overhaul our water and agricultural policies to address what's happening.
Unfortunately, the Bitumen Buzzards that infest our legislatures and our Parliament are less inclined to support the country than to feed off its fossil fuel soaked corpse. This goes not just for the Conservatives but for the Liberals and New Democrats alike. What we need now is a wholesale change in our political classes.
Well said. All of the above.
ReplyDeleteI don't think of Canada in terms of percentage of humanity, rather as percentage of the land mass and the huge potential in our fresh water supplies. On those terms, we are not at all insignificant in the possibilities of being the solution.
We have the power to occupy this vital organ of the biosphere in a mindful way. A huge responsibility and a huge treasure.
Personally, I try to occupy as much space as I can afford to, knowing that I will steward it for the other species who share my territory.
I understand the whole, "what can one person/community/country do?" and every once in a while I kind of succumb to it, too. But doing things that don't contribute to the problem are a habit now, and they are fairly easy habits to acquire, really. And then I remember that you have to hear something more than once before it kicks in and maybe I will say something or help someone at just the right time to make a real difference, and so I get back on that horse.
ReplyDeleteAs for leadership, a few weeks ago on his blog, Sol Chrom said something to the effect of: The bottom line and the public good are not the same thing. I have been thinking about that ever since, and thinking I might send the quote to all my city councillors and the MLA's and MP's in my area. Maybe it would be the tiny gesture that makes a difference somewhere.
CBC Calgary reported this morning, the testing of water in Calgary's Bow River has found high levels of the deadliest form of E. coli after flooding hit the city two weeks ago. CBC News paid for analysis of river water to see how it has been affected by the catastrophic flooding that hit the area this year, sending huge volumes of sewage and runoff into the river. The thing that is alarming is Alberta Environment is monitoring the quality of both drinking water and river water, but says it has no concerns especially down river. That is the biggest bunkum or claptrap. Ecoli is where the danger lies with regrades our Canadian welfare when it comes to increased water temperatures and most of all increased flooding.
ReplyDelete