Dear Mr. Prime Minister, and all those it may concern,
My name is Amelia Penney-Crocker and I’ve written you twelve letters about the Climate Crisis so far and I’m going to keep writing them until you take the action that’s necessary.
A little while ago the Teck company rejected itself which was, for environmentalists like me, a huge relief because the project Teck posed a serious concern for the carbon emissions in Canada. But I wonder what you would have done if Teck hadn’t rejected itself. You and your colleagues had to choose between environment and economy. Except you didn’t. The price of oil has dropped, and it’s not coming back up. That project wouldn’t have helped the economy at all.
So what to do? Because people need jobs and the climate crisis is happening all around us. Teck’s CEO said that Canada has to make a clearer choice about oil and the environment before it can move forward and he’s right. And we have to move quickly on this decision because time is running out for the climate crisis and families are in limbo with no source of income. Unfortunately, no matter how you slice it some people will be sad. But there is a way to have most people win.
Here’s my idea: Begin to reduce oil over the next two years and introduce a new base for our economy. Any country that continues to support itself on oil is done for because the prices are not getting higher, so we should get ahead by introducing a new economy today. During this time the government must help people get re-trained to work in green sectors. We need this transition soon because the climate crisis is only getting worse and will soon be permanent. But the transition cannot go too fast because people need to be re-trained. We cannot throw people strait into the deep end, but instead must let them wade there from the shallow as they learn to swim. But if we don’t start this transition today, we won’t make it in time to reach our Paris targets or stop irreversible climate catastrophe. So start now, and ensure a just and safe transition for all.
I hope you’re having a wonderful day,
Amelia Penney-Crocker