When a climate change-created disaster knocks on the door of a politician, shouldn’t its presence at least be acknowledged?
Neither sadness nor thoughts nor prayers addresses the root cause of either issue.
Similar to way U.S. politicians (specifically, Republicans) can never quite bring themselves to say that such tragedies are linked to ineffective gun laws that they fight to keep in place, our politicians here in Canada (specifically those of a conservative variety) dare not utter the obvious link between tragedies like the Jasper fire and a changing climate caused by human activity.
This is not to suggest there aren’t major differences between these two issues.
We all get that global warming is global and thus far more complex than the gun violence in the U.S. — a problem specific to one individual nation seemingly trapped by the politics that swirls around its gun culture.
But while the U.S. could go a long way toward solving its gun problem itself, those already shuddering at this comparison are right to point out that Canada can surely not alter a changing global climate by itself … even if we truly wanted to.
The problem with that logic, however, is that it also means we are accountable for two per cent of every disaster anywhere in the world.
We can’t get our heads around it … or at least, we can’t until it knocks on the door of our very own home, as it did last week when disaster befell a nearby place we all truly treasure.
That said, one also gets the frustration when Smith and other politicians seemed incapable or unwilling to acknowledge that the increasing frequency of fires and other climate-related disasters is a direct result of the warmest years in recorded history, caused by climate change.
It’s obviously not as unconscionable as watching U.S. politicians who could easily provide more effective legislation to prevent gun violence before offering their thoughts and prayers.
Again, pointing a loaded gun at someone is a direct and potentially deadly act. Turning an ignition key to spark an internal combustion engine isn’t. We do the latter so that we can get to work and feed our families.
The solutions here are neither easy nor clear.
But when a climate change-created disaster knocks on the door of a politician, shouldn’t its presence at least be acknowledged?
Have we heard that, in the face of this disaster?
There’s ample cause to be sad, but the sad thing is that all we’re hearing is thoughts and prayers.
Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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