Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has opted to sit-out the UN Climate Summit that is convening today in New York City. He continues to reject efforts to combat climate change even though the world came together last Sunday for the People’s Climate March to show leaders that they want action. On September 21 almost half a million people marched in Manhattan and there were thousands of events that took place in cities around the world. This was an unprecedented gathering of historic proportions. Nonetheless, Harper thinks he can ignore global efforts to combat climate change.
The Harper government’s rap sheet of environmental crimes is long. Harper’s inaction on climate change will have serious repercussions for generations to come. While governments around the world are retooling their economies to be more sustainable, Harper has doubled down in an effort to bring as much fossil fuel to market as possible. In the future we are likely to look back at Harper’s legacy as one of the most destructive periods in Canadian history.
As Members of Canada’s Parliament come back in the House of Commons. Efforts are underway to try to encourage MPs to change the country’s perilous course. Canadians are standing up and demanding that their leaders end our wanton dependence on fossil fuels and make climate change a priority.
We have seen some signs suggesting that Canadians are beginning to wake up to the environmental dangers of fossil fuels. There has bee a fracking ban in Nova Scotia and Canadians have succeeded in delaying the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines. However, Harper can be expected to continue his relentless pursuit of fossil fuels and his anti-science, anti-environment agenda as long as he reigns.
As the United Nations Climate Summit convenes in New York City, Canadian activists are calling for action on climate change. To this end, Rabble.ca has organized a petition to urge Harper to make climate change a priority.
Click here to sign the petition.
