Barbara Yaffe, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, July 28, 2006

Environment is now the second most important issue for Canadians, right after health care.

Strategic Counsel polling shows seven per cent of respondents cited the environment as their top issue a year ago. Today, it’s No. 1 for 12 per cent, ahead of frets about terrorism, education or the economy.

Interestingly, the environment is one of two areas on which the Harper Conservatives are politically vulnerable, the other being an increasingly unpopular deployment of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

The prime minister has shown a stiff-spined resistance to flak over the Afghan mission, but appears more flexible in his response to concern about climate change and pollution.

Latest word has his government uncorking a green-plan strategy by mid-October.

You’ll recall, after winning January’s election, the Harperites nixed the Kyoto accord, promising to come up with a more relevant “Made in Canada” strategy.

Now that many of the government’s initial priorities have been achieved — child-care payments to parents, a GST reduction, a federal accountability act — the government wants to focus on some additional, clearly defined priorities in the run-up to an election in which Harper will be seeking to snare a majority.

A new focus on the environment for the Conservatives is a no-brainer.

Liberal party leadership candidates all have been highlighting the environment. And parliamentary pressure on government will only increase if Elizabeth May — popular former head of the Sierra Club — manages to win the Green party’s leadership on Aug. 27.

Harper knows he needs to start showing some green credentials.

Early this week, B.C. MP James Moore, parliamentary secretary for the Pacific Gateway, announced regulations to protect coastal waters from pollutants, including a long overdue ban to prevent boats and ships from dumping their untreated sewage.

The ominous signals that the planet has lately been sending out have simply become too frequent for the public and their politicians to ignore.

Earth is warmer than at any time in the past four centuries, due to increased greenhouse-gas emissions resulting mainly from burning of coal, gas and oil. The clearing of forests adds to the problem.

Scientist are warning of more droughts, floods and wildfires. Severe hurricanes have more than doubled since 1986.

By 2050, more than a million more species could be toast. The Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by mid-century.

Glaciers are melting, prompting a rise in sea levels, which, if unchecked, will ultimately wipe out coastal cities. What would this mean for the Lower Mainland?

According to a map prepared in May by the Sierra Club, a six-metre sea level rise would submerge 91 per cent of Richmond, 76 per cent of Delta and 32 per cent of New Westminster. Vancouver International Airport and the Tsawwassen ferry terminal will be history.

That sure brings the message close to home. And that’s exactly where, we’re told, action must take place if there’s to be a turnaround.

Last week, I wrote about my own longstanding neglect with respect to recycling, composting and making my home energy-efficient. Readers cut me no slack.
“It’s not good enough to simply acknowledge that something should be done but leave it to others,” scolded Bill and Jan Farish. “Each of us has to do our part.”

Reader Christina Goldt certainly does her small part. She wrote she keeps grocery bags in her car for re-use in stores and asks clerks not to staple receipts to save metal. She re-uses junk-mail paper by deploying the blank side of sheets and collects elastics from newspapers and mail and returns them.

The website www.onedayvancouver

..ca details the city’s program to address climate change and provides neophyte Greenies with a practical plan.

Did you know, idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel than turning off and restarting your engine? Or, that homeowners can save energy by wrapping water heaters in an insulating blanket?

Other website tips: Replace your furnace filter regularly. Most energy expended by regular lightbulbs goes toward heat emission, not light; use compact fluorescent bulbs.

My own little journey started last weekend with a single step. I bought the pricey lightbulbs.

byaffe@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2006