The Paris COP 21 agreement was not perfect by any standard, but it provided a glimmer of hope after years of stagnation. The decision of the United States government to leave the Paris agreement, as part of their disastrous environmental policy, has been harmful. However, the earth is not waiting for the political climate in countries like the United States to change. The environmental disasters are multiplying. As rabble.ca’s Karl Nerenberg reported, climate change needs to be a priority globally and in Canada, and according to Canada’s environment commissioner Canada is not ready to deal with the flooding and other repercussions of climate change. Right now, the government and delegates from Canadian institutions (like the Canadian Labour Congress) are in Germany for COP 23, trying to figure out how to build ways to slow climate change, and Canada just helped broker an agreement to phase out the use of coal.   

One of our main polluters is the oil and gas industry, and while it is difficult, that is what people living in Canada must take on. Sign this Green Party petition and demand that fracking across Canada stop and keep working with groups like Greenpeace to stop the expansion of tar sands. This Leap Manifesto report, scholars lay out how Canada can get to 100 per cent renewable electricity within 20 years. That is what the Leap Manifesto is about, being bold as we demand protection for the earth and its resources. If we, in Canada, want to make a real impact, we have to take on the tough problems and be bold.

Of course, it is not about Canada alone. The United States is a huge polluter and it is going in the wrong direction. Globally, we must support those standing against the anti-environmental policies of the Trump Adminstration. Earth Justice is one of the many groups leading the fight as is Greenpeace. Support them.