Summer: No Time For Change
Just because winter is over, doesn't mean that it's not on my mind. Maybe sub-consciously, that's why I like Never Summer snowboards so much; in my imagination it's never really summer. This fixation doesn't really fit into Freud's Psychosexual model – although I suppose in a way mountains might be phallic, but that's neither here nor there – yet I'm am quite sure that I'm not suffering from this fever alone, which is why I recently suggested some potential activities to pass the summer months. The productive quality of these activities are questionable, however, so if you're looking for a slightly more constructive endeavour for the summer, perhaps doing something to protect the season you're breathlessly awaiting (i.e. winter) is just the ticket.
Generations: A skier's and snowboarder's perspective on climate change.
While attending the SIA tradeshow in January, I got to see the premiere of Generations; a short film about climate change produced by Teton Gravity Research in partnership with The North Face and Protect Our Winters. I'm already a believer in anthropogenic climate change, so this movie was essentially "preaching to the choir", but it was still eye opening to see how winter sports have been affected by the warming trend of the global climate; especially in my usual stomping ground of New England (and by inference, the townships of Quebec).
I realise that using first hand, annecdotal, evidence to support anthropogenic climate change is stupid and un-scientific, especially when you consider that our lifetimes are insignificant when compared to global climate cycles. However, it's also stupid to say that a cold week in January is evidence which disproves the global warming phenomena; a theory which, I might add, is supported by a vast scientific consensus. Whether or not you believe in global warming, I think everyone can agree that all the crap we're putting into the atmosphere is not healthy. If you doubt this fact, I challenge you to run a gas powered lawn mower in your bedroom then come back and tell me how that makes you feel. For that reason, I think it's important for everyone, believer or not, to care about what we're spewing into the atmosphere.
Right now is a critical time for action on climate change. The US Senate narrowly defeated the Murkowski Resolution, on June 10th, by a vote of 53-47. This resolution proposed to block the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing greenhouse gas regulations. Although this, by most accounts, is a victory for the climate, there is still an uphill battle ahead to ensure that binding climate legislation gets passed.
Senator Harry Reid has been polling other Democratic Senators about whether, or not, they want to go ahead with a climate bill this year. So if you're in the U.S. of A, and are looking for something productive to do this summer, an easy one would be to write to your Senators and ask them to tell Harry Reid that they want to see a climate bill this year. Check out the "60 Days To" campaign sponsored by Protect Our Winters for more information.
It's also possible for those of us in the Great White North to get involved. The G8 Summit will be held in Muskoka, Ontario from June 25 to 27.
[This is] a perfect opportunity for the world's wealthiest nations to make some decisions about climate change. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to put it on the agenda. World leaders including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and European Union President Manuel Barroso have urged the prime minister, as the Summit’s host, to allow discussion on this important issue. Six Nobel Peace Prize winners just sent an open letter to Stephen Harper urging the same.
When you're done being productive, here's a satirical video about BPs reaction to the Gulf oil spill; both humourous and insightful.
The David Suzuki Foundation is currently promoting a letter writing campaign to have canadian citizens write to Prime Minister Harper to convince him to put climate change on the G8 agenda and deliver the financial support to help poor and vulnerable countries adapt to the climate change impacts we created as he committed to doing in Copenhagen.
Hopefully if enough of us get involved, our respective governments will finally stop dragging their feet and implement policies that will keep both our environment, and ourselves, healthy. This way we'll be able to keep enjoying winter for a long time to come. These are pretty simple actions that anyone can take, so they won't take too much time away from surfing YouTube and working on your tan.
