Keeping Our Cool: A Climate Change Primer

By Canadian National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)

Global warming may not be all our fault. It may just be part of the nature of things. It doesn't really matter. What does matter is that we humans are definitely part of the problem.

What matters just as much is that we can also choose to be part of the solution.

The point of this Canadian trade union primer is to give us the knowledge we need to want to make that choice.

Soft energy paths are those utilizing renewable energy sources, like wind, solar, micro-hydro, hydrogen fuel cells and biogas. The study Kyoto and Beyond describes detailed actions in five sectors to move us to a soft path energy society. The sectors are: buildings, transportation, product efficiency, industrial output and phasing out nuclear and coal electricity generation.

We will find that soft energy options, in the long-term, are more sustainable and will cost the least. The proposed changes anticipate a 50% per capita increase in Gross Domestic Product, making these shifts affordable.

The progress of Canadian industry in the wind, solar and hydrogen fuel cell sectors is exciting. Federal support must continue to see expansion and improvement so that these industries can replace fossil fuel and nuclear energy paths in the next century.

There are opportunities for federal, provincial and municipal governments to tighten up industrial standards, efficiency codes and shift infrastructure to a soft energy path.

Efforts by the Canada Green Building Council accelerated their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification activity for commercial and public buildings.

Some industries are leading the way with improvements in efficiency that provide them with significant savings, but these changes need to be made in every industry to meet our Kyoto target reductions. Standards for cars and truck fleets can be improved with the technology that exists today.

The way to a cooler world is clear and the technology to achieve it exists. There is little doubt about whether we can meet our international commitments and become world leaders in building sustainable communities.

What is in doubt is whether we will do enough, soon enough. What is in doubt is whether we have the leadership it will take to create and sustain a national understanding of the need to combat global warming and the willing desire to do it.

The problem (threat) of global warming is real. So are the solutions. Knowledge about what is happening and why it is happening is no longer what we need most.

What we need most now--what we need most to keep our cool-- is to choose to do something to reduce global warming. Something immediate and direct. What we need most is to choose to pursue a future bright with the promise of an earth fit for human beings and all other living things.

Includes the 10 Most Effective Things ways we can conserve nature and improve our quality of life from The David Suzuki Foundation