The United Nations Climate Summit was billed as a way to galvanize and catalyze climate action prior to the 2015 Paris meeting. Of the over 150 world leaders that attended Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper would not. Apparently he felt it would be more important to attend events focused on maternal and child health. A worthy cause no doubt but what good is maternal and child health initiatives if that local third world clinic is buried under an area flooded due to extreme weather change. Harper’s “genuine concern” over maternal and child health is questionable when you look at the restrictive nature of Canada’s funding commitment.
With the amount of world leaders attending the climate change event and speaking to the General Assembly we have a Prime Minister who only attended the free meal that evening. Having lived through the floods in Alberta but particularly the Calgary area I think climate issues should be front and centre of this governments agenda. It was estimated at the time to be in excess of $5 billion to make things right and that cost continues to grow. It is also a dollar estimate which in no way reflects that devastation and tragedy caused to the people of the area. If the Harper government is really about the economy then they really need to look at this. This has big time effects on the economy and extreme weather is having major economic effects across Canada.
So for today, rather than just whine about it, I submit my simplistic thoughts on climate change.
The Conflict of Nature
The warmth of the sun on the cold mountain snow,
A conflict created through which new life will grow,
This is the way of this place we call earth,
Seasonal affects to give the world worth.
Through time eternal the balance has grown,
The cycle of nature is all we have known.
Now the vanity of man claims we can do better,
Cut down the forests, make the desert wetter.
That life giving balance that had worked for so long,
The arrogance of man will make it all wrong.
We threw off the balance that existed in nature,
By denying the fact that we are just earth’s creature.
Terry Wiens – Jan 2005
A Poster Child's Perspective 