My letter to Stephen Harper and Rona Ambrose

Dear Mr. Harper and Ms. Ambrose:

I am deeply concerned about the announced cuts to the One Tonne Challenge and other Kyoto programs. Most climate experts agree that climate change is real and is happening right now. While we may not feel the full effects for many years, we don't have a lot of time left to mitigate this problem. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we need to act now!

As far as I can see this is the most important issue that we as Canadians should be working on. I urge you to take the advice of government scientists, and environmental leaders like David Suzuki.

I understand that the government will soon be announcing tax incentives for transit users. While this is a good first step, there is so much more we need to do. The federal government should be playing a critical role in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by:

• encouraging and enforcing industrial emission-reductions
• promoting and subsidizing alternatives to fossil fuels
• assisting businesses and individuals to become more energy efficient
• bringing in programs to reduce automobile use

I strongly believe that we can and must fulfill our Kyoto commitments. Please let me know what your government plans to do on this very important issue.