Federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says Canada can do much better when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.
She was in Bracebridge on Saturday for the Muskoka Summit on the Environment. The theme of the summit was “Solutions for a Warming World.” She and several other environmental experts spoke at the summit.
May says climate change is a problem everyone should take personally. Some already are.
“This might sound radical but did you know that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia announced three weeks ago that by 2030 Saudi Arabia would end its oil dependency…Saudi Arabia,” says May.
Despite its small population Canada is ranked 9th out of the top 10 highest carbon producing nations, according to World Resources Institute.
“Canadians have been paralysed, made to think that we could not act on climate change. It’s not only possible, but it holds the ability to redesign your country for a much better future. That’s what I’d like people to remember,” says guest speaker and Mcgill University Professor Catherine Potvin.
People at the summit were encouraged to post their ideas for change on boards provided. They were also encouraged to look for new ways to take action in their own lives.
“Hanging clothes out in the line instead of putting them in a dryer. Is it walking to work or to school, bicycling to work or to school? I challenge people to look at their lifestyle and what it would be like if they reduced their emissions by thirty per cent,” says summit organizer Judi Brouse.
The Muskoka Summit on the Environment wraps up this weekend, but the ideas and information generated at the conference will be documented and forwarded to the Provincial and Federal governments.
