LETTER: Kudos to striking kids, federal parties need to step up
By Letters to the editor
To the Editor,
The Fridays For the Future youth strike last Friday was inspiring. Around the world, millions of youth and their supporters marched and demanded real climate action from the adults. By ‘real action’ I assume the youth mean action that avoids the forecasted global catastrophe and delivers the Paris Accord goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C.
All the major federal political parties have recognized this climate crisis is largely human caused and have made commitments to address this climate crisis. However, mostly absent from the election conversation so far has been how likely the platforms are to deliver Canada’s commitments/targets in the Paris Accord.
In my google search I found two independent analyses; one by Clean Prosperity Canada and one from Simon Fraser University. Implementing the Liberal platform would reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically but still fall short of reaching Canada’s current greenhouse gas emission target, and implementing the Conservative platform would not reduce emissions at all and may even increase emissions. I have not found credible greenhouse gas emission analyses that address the NDP’s or Green’s platform.
To deserve our vote and given the urgency of the climate crisis, each party must upgrade their platform. At least upgrade to ensure promised actions reduce emissions enough to be consistent with the 1.5 degree C goal and help ensure a livable world for our youth.
Mike Geisler,
Bonnington, BC
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