It is such a dismal picture of the future in a world affected by climate change. Apparently in Canada we won't be able to count on the military to bail us out of disasters anymore, at least not without a fee. The proposal is that municipalities and provincial governments will be billed for relief efforts. If our armed forces aren't fighting wars, why wouldn't they consider relief as part of the job description.
Last year the United States had a record eleven weather events with an economic impact of more than a billion dollars. Superstorm Sandy will probably ring in at more than 50 billion. Who pays? It was shameful that Republicans in the US blocked an aid bill because of partisan politics.
We don't hear that one of the possible outcomes of climate change will be gross selfishness, every man and woman for him or herself. Is this the world we want to live in? As Christians I think the answer is an emphatic no. But this is more than pondering the outcome of a society which could be reshaped by the climate we are altering. It can be motivation to act with purpose and conviction as Christian communities and individuals for "tikkun olam," mending the world.
What are your thoughts on this?
If there is a price tag on relief efforts to be billed to the ones who have become victims, then perhaps the government needs to start making a greater effort in implementing the penalties and collecting on the fines it is supposed to be imposing on big business who are repeat offenders in their crimes against the environment.
ReplyDeleteToo often we hear the stories where regulations are ignored, fines are minimal for infractions or simply written off. Where does the money go when it is collected for such disasters as the oil spill in the Gulf?
(I looked this up because I'm so riled) and learned that from 2004 to 2011 Environment Canada's focus was on investigating many, issuing warnings and hoping to deter. In those seven years, there were tens of thousands of inspections and only 32 convictions. The goal was to deter, not to convict. Since then, more money has been injected to allow for greater enforcement of the laws and the amounts of fines were made higher. But then I read that in Canada, now that mandatory minimum environmental fines are so high, courts occasionally refuse to impose them! For example, a justice of the peace refused to impose a $25,000 minimum fine on a local farm, even though seepage from its corn silo made a local watercourse toxic to fish.
What we really need, is for Environment Canada to get out of the time warp of being too friendly with the polluting industries who cause the most havoc. It shouldn't take a MASSIVE disaster like the BP spill, to collect money. There are infringements every day that are not being collected. Collect on them to deter. Warnings don't work. It seems to be another government agency with sharp teeth and no bite. But something tells me the collections agents will be really quick to collect on the bill for the relief efforts. So if a teeny community like Grise Fiord, Nunavut (known as the place that never thaws) somehow floods because of global warming.. will they have to foot the bill? Are you telling me that the people of Ellesmere Island are responsible for the global warming and melting of the arctic ice? It's ridiculous.
Grrr.
I'm grring with you. Stay feisty and indignant!
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