Former City of Powell River mayor Dave Formosa demonstrated leadership when he spoke directly to the community during the pandemic in support of Tla’amin Nation. This type of leadership is called for now, or yesterday, as we are facing a climate crisis.
When there is an emergency we generally, if we are sensible, decide to take some action. If, for example, your house is on fire, it makes sense to call the fire department and get out of the house. Prepared folks may even have a fire escape plan prior to such an emergency.
We need to offer congratulations to the city for declaring a climate emergency and announcing a commitment to zero carbon emissions. It is, however, one thing to announce this, but to say nothing about the follow-up or prior plan of action is misleading and irresponsible.
I was shocked by the poster declaring the city’s commitment to zero carbon emissions that showed up on my Facebook page. This is public relations at its worst. Is climate action even part of the new strategic plan?
There are municipalities in Canada that have committed to a reduction in carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, but they have well-developed plans on how to achieve this. It is not an easy task. Included in such a plan would be electrification of city vehicles, city and school buses, and a decision matrix that would filter all decisions through a climate action requirement.
In other words, every decision made would ask whether the decision would result in a carbon reduction. The city would also need to support sustainable housing, tree planting and bike lanes with barriers for safety.
For qathet region residents to get to zero emissions, an ambitious plan whereby citizens would drive less, build passive housing, eat plant-based foods on a regular basis, cut down fewer trees, save old-growth forests, plant more trees, and drive electric bikes and cars is necessary. By way of interest our city’s footprint is 162,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. We need to reduce that by half if we want to keep the planet’s warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Yes, some electric charging stations have been installed and more people are driving electric cars. The city to date, though, has shown minimal if any leadership for the community in reducing our collective footprint.
Anyone interested in knowing their own, or their family’s carbon footprint, can check out: footprintcalculator.org. qathet Climate Alliance’s Facebook page is also an excellent source of climate-related information: facebook.com/reducingourcarbonfootprint.
Cynthia Barnes is a member of qathet Climate Alliance.
