Re: 鈥淐owichan Valley considers new airport facility,鈥� March 8.
How ironic that improved 鈥減ublic safety鈥� is being used as a rationale for building a new airport in the Cowichan Valley. Air travel is the fastest growing source of carbon pollution in Canada (emissions are up 60 per cent since 2009, according to the latest report on Canada鈥檚 Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Air Travel).
The World Health Organization states that climate chaos will cause 250,000 deaths a year worldwide by 2030 due to heatwaves, floods, fires, drought, hunger and disease. The real public-safety challenge for Canada is to stop the unsustainable growth in dirty fossil-fuel-based air travel, and to invest instead in the expansion of clean transportation options, such as inter-city electric bus and train travel.
Michael Polanyi
North Saanich
