Ottawa - WWF-Canada and the Pembina Institute have joined forces to give all 308 MPs a climate-change homework assignment for their summer holidays.
Today, the two environmental groups delivered packages to every MP's office containing The Weather Makers, a best-selling book on global warming by the renowned science writer Dr. Tim Flannery, and Oilsands Fever, a recent Pembina Institute report about the environmental impacts of the escalating development of Alberta's oilsands. The books will be in MPs' hands by Wednesday, just in time for Parliament's summer recess.
"Parliamentarians have spent a lot of time on climate change this session, between a motion, a private members' bill, and almost daily questions in the House," said Matthew Bramley, the director of Pembina's climate change program. "We're glad to see all that work, but we want to remind MPs that this is much more than just another partisan issue. This reading assignment should tell Parliamentarians - more eloquently than we can - about the enormity of what's at stake."
"We decided to hand out climate-change homework as a novel way to get MPs prepared for one of the most critical policy debates this country has ever faced," said Lorne Johnson, Ottawa Bureau Director for WWF-Canada. "Hopefully, MPs from every party can work together to put Canada on a path to the deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions needed to prevent catastrophic climate change."
Since taking office in February, Stephen Harper's government has shelved much of the previous federal climate change plan and stated that Canada cannot meet its Kyoto target. Instead, the new government intends to produce its own "made in Canada" plan for greenhouse gas reduction, which is expected to be released in the fall.
The Weather Makers chronicles the impacts of climate change around the world, and describes the kinds of solutions that will lead to a lower-carbon future. Oilsands Fever reports on the scale of the development taking place in Northern Alberta, and the toll that this is taking on a fragile environment - including the climate.
"I know that nobody likes doing homework in the summer, but these are both page-turners that pack a real punch. And Canadians need their representatives to come back in the fall ready and eager to tackle Canada's rising emissions," said Johnson.
Contact:
Lorne Johnson, WWF-Canada, 613-852-1316
Matthew Bramley, Pembina Institute, 819-210-6115
