Senior activists

November 30, 2016

Winter’s on its way, but that’s nothing compared to the icy chill coming from south of the border. Social progress that has taken decades to build may be rolled back now. It may take decades to undo the damage. But there’s one issue that can‘t wait: climate change. We’ve already squandered years in wilful ignorance, lies and misinformation, greed and selfishness, and we can’t afford to waste any more time. The future of the planet depends on what we do in the next few years.

David Suzuki, now 80, recently spoke about the urgent need to have environmental rights enshrined in the Constitution, so that they won’t be subject to the whims of politicians. He’s worried about the world he’s leaving for his grandchildren. And he issued a special challenge to seniors: “Get ... off the golf course, get off the couch. You’ve got something that nobody else in society has — you and I have lived an entire lifetime — we’ve learned a hell of a lot during that lifetime. But what we’ve learned is we need clean air, clean water and clean food to survive. Kids know that, but a lot of adults have forgotten that.”

If you’re a seasoned activist with a reputation for making a difference, jump right in. Otherwise, I really don’t think younger activists want to hear from us. They see us as the generation that created the culture of greed and excess that led us to this point. If you’re a good organizer, maybe consider forming a coalition of grandparents, as grandmothers did in response to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. I’ve come across a few such efforts in Canada, but so far they don’t seem to have gotten any traction. Support our environmental organizations, like the David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence, Ontario Nature, and the Toronto Environmental Alliance. And support trustworthy, objective, research-based news sources, so that we can continue to hear the truth.

Comments

Never Old

Sun, 2017-07-02 16:27

Comment: 
Probably one of the most significant statements in your comment is the following: "And support trustworthy, objective, research-based news sources, so that we can continue to hear the truth." In fact an issue that has the potential to cause far more harm, far more quickly, than global warming is the loss of professional journalism within mainstream media outlets. Without professional journalism, there can be no functional democracy. The loss of professional journalism is unbelievably dangerous, with many of those dangers already evident. Those who only watch the mainstream media for their news have no idea why President Trump vetoed the Paris Agreement and its sister, the Green Climate Fund, because most of those outlets were very conveniently quiet about the real reasons. Hints: unbalanced solutions whitewash solutions; extremely costly with no potential for success; no consideration for job losses and consequences; massive money grabs for developing nations at the expense of taxpayers and improvements in developed nations; corruption and theft in developing nations. His vetoing those accords was met with massive support, also not covered in the mainstream media. It is not my job to educate low-information environmental activists. It is essential that they do the necessary research to find out the terms of these documents and why no ethical, decent leader in the Western world, particularly the United States, would ever sign on to them. Doing one's own research is important to learn all the facts and engage in the critical thinking that leads to common-sense solutions, rather than relying on lemming media outlets engaged in political propaganda. As President Trump has said, the door is open for new win/win treaties to be negotiated. Perhaps serious activists will have the courage to step up to the front lines and become engaged in negotiating new, common sense, win/win, environmental agreements. It would greatly assist the process if, as well as science, they understand economics and finance. His refusal to be a partner in those agreements has nothing to do with whether humans are creating climate change (a valid controversy in its own right); however, the same human activities that are on the list of causing climate change are also on the list of causing serious, environmental damage throughout the world. For newcomers to this topic, an excellent documentary, "Home," narrated by Glenn Close, with spectacular photography, but a very dire message, is available on You Tube. Millions have watched this documentary. It is life changing. Those who have watched it will never again deny the global destruction that we have all allowed to happen. The documentary's reliance on photo journalism eliminates the risk of hearsay agendas. It also gives a clear picture of the main cause of environmental destruction: massive, irresponsible population growth. Dramatically reducing world population growth is a priority for dealing with environmental damage. And that is where many environmentalists lose their credibility. Many never even bring up the topic of population growth. How many of them have more than two children? How many of them don't dare question population growth? How many of them justify families with more than two children, if those families can afford them? How many of them balk at opposition to continuous, high, annual net immigration and migration flows into developed countries? Unfortunately, as it stands right now, intelligent people cannot rely on the mainstream media for factual, full and balanced information. Thank goodness for the internet that is loaded with reliable sources to fill in the gaps and provide real news, based on evidence, with real sources and videos.