To the editor,
We are facing climate collapse and ecological breakdown and it’s time to speak clearly about this.
Last summer, there was one point when a fire came so close to where I was living that I panicked and left work to get tenant’s insurance. I was denied because clearly I don’t know how insurance works, but it was the first time in my life I genuinely thought that I might be out of a place to live.
I, like those who have read the most recent climate and biodiversity science, am scared for my future.
Every degree that the temperature rises, grain crops lose productivity. That’s not even accounting for the loss of crops due to drought and torrential rain destroying entire fields.
Canada declared a national climate emergency and our city, like many others has declared one locally. CBC’s journalistic standards and practices state that our national broadcaster has a responsibility during national emergencies to provide special, critical coverage. If declaring an emergency doesn’t make us act like we are in an emergency, we are lost.
The CBC needs to host a climate debate, but every media outlet in Canada also needs to support. We are deciding the future of our country in October, and it’s up to our media to ensure voters have the information they need to vote appropriately.
It is shameful that climate change only received 15 minutes of air time in federal leaders’ debates in the last election. Our climate and our planet simply can’t afford for that to happen again.
Deraek Menard, Nanaimo
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To the editor,
We have only 12 more years to cut down our pollution. Some scientists have even said we have just 18 months before there’s no going back. There’s no way to know if that’s true before it happens, but I’d rather play it safe and just start being mindful. I think a lot of people just expect to be able to sit around and keep buying the same plastic and garbage covered items. But we can’t. I’m not saying to never buy anything from the store again or to stop driving your car and walk everywhere. It’s just about being educated on the issue and knowing how to solve it.
So everything in moderation. Try to drive a little bit less each week and why wouldn’t you, considering how high gas prices are right now? Reuse as long as you can before recycling, selling or repurposing it so no wasting is involved and that will hopefully limit the amount of newer items we buy.
Food is another problem, with all the meat animals that we’re overproducing and treating poorly. Try to buy and eat less meat or buy organic if you can. Try to always buy organic fruits and veggies as well from the store or even local markets. Cleaning supplies and detergents can also have very harsh chemicals that can harm our Earth so try to look for brands that are environmentally friendly. Lots of things that you buy from the store do have plastic or cardboard packaging that can be recycled but we never know if those things are really recycled and how much of it they can recycle so it’s best to try to avoid it as much as possible.
And I know that’s asking a lot but we are in a state of emergency and more of us need to start caring and not just that, but also acting on it too.
Stella Parr, Nanaimo
The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin. If you have a different view, we encourage you to write to us or contribute to the discussion below.