Dear editor:
Re: When Did Letting Children Fight Our Climate Battles Become Acceptable?, Oct. 11 Mailbox.
Letter-writer Kiernan Livingstone misses the point when he suggested that 70 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from 100 companies. Manmade GHG emissions come from human activity – us, not companies.
Yes, these industries emit GHG emissions, but they do so providing you and me gas for our cars, electricity for our houses and businesses (though here in B.C. we have low-emitting hydro), heat for our homes or all the food and products we buy every day. If we didn’t use so much of these things, companies wouldn’t produce/emit as much GHGs.
If we are really honest with ourselves we would look ourselves in the mirror and cut back on our energy use; let our kids walk to school again, take the bus or ride a bike or carpool to work and school, turn down the heat and use a blanket, combine our trips to the store, vacation locally.
Each of us should also invest in becoming more energy efficient; add insulation to our homes, buy smaller or electric cars (who really needs an SUV, anyway?), replace a gas water heater with electric, even if it costs more to run. It is too easy to blame politicians, or industry, or other countries for our problems. Canada has among the highest per capita GHC emissions in the world – yes you and me are the issue!
Instead of marching in the street demanding others solve our problems, how about each of us consciously look at our energy use and actively take steps to cut our emissions.
Stephen Boppart
North Vancouver
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