WHEN did the implications of climate change morph from scary to boring?
Globally, the consequences of shifting weather patterns would appear more frightening than ever - not just in economic terms but in the potential cost to life in all forms on this planet.
Yet many politicians, especially in senior governments, pay scant attention to climate change. That's our fault as much as theirs. If there is little political interest, it's because there is no voter cost to ignoring what should be a driving force behind many political decisions.
It's unfortunate that Gordon Campbell was not a "people's premier" with an old-school orator's skills. Because as much as the carbon tax he introduced was hated, it was the right medicine for the times. It needed a champion. Capping it and giving it back in other forms of tax cuts only served to make the tax matter less.
On Thursday the Sierra Club of B.C. released a scathing report, arguing that B.C.'s contributions to global carbon emissions are four times greater than what our government reports. We confidently predict that the result will be an argument over the methodology employed, not a commitment to do anything to improve provincial emissions.
Yet there is an opportunity at hand. Our municipal mayors are on the right track when they argue for some of the gas tax revenue now collected to be used to pay for transit improvements and other green municipal products.
If we want people to drive less, reducing carbon emissions, we have to provide workable alternatives.
