Despite the Odds, Still Hoping For A Green Future

 By Dave Toderick

There was an editorial in my local newspaper last week which made me both laugh (for its total misunderstanding of the topic) and despair (because of the seriousness of the issure) at the same time.

Will Elizabeth May and her Green Party gain any ground in this federal election?

The gist of the editorial was that the Green Party would be hurt in the upcoming federal election by the cold spring in Canada, because the cold weather proved that global warming isn’t happening. Climate denier columns appear regularly in this paper, as they do in much of the mainstream media in Canada and the United States, and I normally laugh and despair privately, but with the election just days away, I felt compelled to respond.

In my letter to the editor, which was published, I wrote:
“Anyone who has even the beginning of an understanding of the concept realizes, of course, that global warming does not mean that the temperature will be warmer in every single place on earth every single day, but rather that the average global temperature of the entire planet is rising. This it has been doing (about 0.6 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution) and will continue to do if we continue to put fossil fuels into the atmosphere.”

Because it was a letter to the editor, I had to keep it short, so I didn’t go on the say that, while 0.6 degrees Celsius (one degree Fahrenheit) might not sound like much, even that increase was causing ice caps and glacies to melt, and an increase in severe weather, hurricanes and tornadoes. The number of climate refugees, forced to leave their homes because of drought or flooding, has already surpassed the number of war refugees, and both numbers will continue to increase as the vicious circle spins on, with countries fighting over shortages of food and water.

I called the newspaper irresponsible for publishing a column by a writer so misinformed, and went on to say:

“Now I know you’re going to say that it isn’t irresponsible for a newspaper to print a person’s point of view in an editorial, no matter how misinformed it may be, but I would argue that without, on the same page, in large bold print, making it clear that 100% of the peer-reviewed articles published by qualified climate scientists state that anthropogenic climate change is happening, that that is indeed irresponsible. Or far worse, since life on the planet as we know it is at stake.”

I realize there are Niagara at Large readers who believe there is a debate among scientists about whether climate change is real, or at least its causes, so let me repeat a key point from the previous paragraph: every single paper written by a qualified climate scientist and published in a science magazine which requires prior review by other qualified scientists has said that climate change is happening and is the result of humans putting carbon into the atmosphere.

Whether or not you believe these scientists is irrelevant to science, to the laws of physics and chemistry, in the same way that, whether or not you believe in gravity, you will plummet if you step off the edge of a cliff.

I ended my letter with this:

“Keep a scrapbook of all the things you’ve had to say on the topic, Mr. … (and like-minded folk), for I’m sure your children and grandchildren will want to “thank” you for not only refusing to help, but actually standing in the way of those who tried to leave them a liveable planet.

I ended my letter there, without getting back to Canadian politics, but I won’t end this piece without doing so. The headline of the editorial was “May’s Green Party on the fringe for a reason”, but the Greens aren’t “on the fringe”. In the last federal election, almost a million Canadians voted for them. That’s not fringe.

There are reasons why the Greens didn’t win any seats, but they have nothing to do with anything mentioned in the column. The Greens didn’t win any seats because we have a deeply flawed electoral system that allows one party, the Bloc, to win 49 seats with roughly the same percentage of votes (10%) as a party that wins none (7%). The Greens didn’t win any seats because many people didn’t want to “throw away their vote” by voting for who they really wanted (but who they believed couldn’t win), and instead voted for their second or third choice to try to prevent their last choice from winning. How many people? I wish we knew.

And if the Greens don’t win any seats in this election (although I believe Elizabeth May will make history on May 2), it will be because, additionally, mainstream media has largely ignored the Green campaign and platform, even preventing the Green leader from participating in the leaders’ debate.

In spite of this unjust coverage, it is possible to become informed about the fiscally responsible Green platform. Their website, http://greenparty.ca/, shows that they are not a “one issue party”. They have a platform which supports so many of my values, not just on the environment, but also on health care, green jobs, fair taxation, organic farming, democracy and more. Most importantly, they understand how these issues are related.

You were denied the opportunity to watch Elizabeth May in the leaders’ debate, but she demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the issues in her interview with Steve Paikin, which you can watch at http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?videoid?918635141001.

Prime Minister Elizabeth May? Not exactly a likely outcome this election. But I’m grateful that she, and the other Green candidates are fighting despite the odds. And maybe some day soon, before it’s too late

Dave Toderick is a Niagara resident and contributor to Niagara At Large.

(Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region and beyond.)