91Ô­´´

The world is addicted to electricity

With the invention and understanding of electricity and learning how to use it, the whole world is now addicted to the usage of large amounts of electricity.

Until the whole world can figure out how to generate enough clean electricity without oil, gas or coal consumption, the world will continue to use oil, coal and gas to produce electricity, no matter how many times COP28, 29, 30 etc. spews doom and gloom about the climate.

The climate changes, it always has, but man’s pollution also changes, it increases all the time and we, the world, do nothing to curb this.

Addicts will not stop using the drugs until something better is introduced and proven. It is not just Canada’s little 40 million people, with our fearless leader, Justin Trudeau, that will convince the rest of the world to stop using their electricity.

So, let us cancel COP29 until the world can figure out how not to be addicted to electricity. Let us just turn the whole world off.

Good night world. Thanks

J.I. Hansen

North Saanich

EVs a great idea until the power goes out

With all the power outages on the Island and across the country, how can people expect to be able to move at a moments notice with EVs?

Power could be out for days. What happens then? What about getting to work, groceries, medical emergencies and everyday travel?

I guess the best way is to get a ride or help from neighbours or friends with an internal combustion vehicle. Makes you think.

Ken McKay

Saanich

Christmas wishes, local and international

My sister Lauren recently asked me what I wanted for Christmas, which got me also thinking about what I don’t want: A Tesla with an autopilot system, for example, since they’ve just recalled two million of them.

But I would love to see a greener future with all electric cars, more people agreeing that carbon emissions must be taxed as incentive to decrease pollution, and no oil corporation executives heading COP29.

And while I am easy dreaming of hard to attain gifts let me dream big: An end to war, racism, sexism, homophobia … so in a nutshell, an end to foolish thinking.

But how do we move in that direction? Turn off Fox News, read more content written by paid journalists such as your local paper, read reliable online progressive sites such as The Guardian to learn about not just what troubles the world, but also for ways to fix it.

Supporting sober traditional professional journalism which counters disinformation is a necessity for a functioning democracy, many of which are facing peril (to be clear, both democracies and newspapers).

So another Christmas wish is that people learn of the dangers of the likes of Donald Trump who threaten democracy and cheer brave prosecutors such as Jack Smith who try to uphold the principle that no one is above the law.

But getting closer to home, I hope to see fewer homeless people on the streets because they have found proper housing; more jobs created by building more sustainable housing and more income support for those who find it hard to feed their kids.

Taxing the very rich a little more wouldn’t hurt to reach these goals. Though Scrooge might disagree on this I doubt Santa would. Merry Christmas!

Mark Fornataro

Victoria

Push municipalities over fossil fuel use

It is unlikely that climate targets can be reached as major studies have shown that energy transition will not occur without a much larger buy-in by stakeholders.

The COP28 meeting vividly illustrates that the fossil fuel industry has the capacity and intention to prevent fossil fuel production from decreasing in the future.

Climate models provide a unique understanding of the next half century and show that an average decrease in fossil fuel production of more than 50 per cetntby 2050, regardless of the amount of carbon capture or hydrogen production, must occur to reach Paris agreement emission targets.

Simulations also show that climate damage and related costs are increasing rapidly as confirmed by firefighting costs which increased by 18.5% compared to the previous record in 2017.

Fortunately, legal matters are determined by precedent and multiple cases have shown that industries that knowingly harm society or the environment have been required to pay compensation — sometimes in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Therefore, climate polluters can be held responsible legally regardless of the capacity of climate negotiations to limit their production.

The capital region Sue Big Oil campaign encourages municipalities to join a provincial class action lawsuit against major oil producers and hold them responsible for the climate damage and adaptation costs that residents are currently paying on their behalf.

Civil society action by encouraging municipalities to join the suit, or by volunteering with Sue Big Oil, will help prepare communities to respond to ongoing climate damage.

Aidan Byrne

Victoria

Hope for improvement is hard to find

I recall in the 1980s, my mother’s family doctor making a house call — yes, in Victoria.

How times have changed!

We are at the point that no matter what our current government does, there is no hope under this model that the vast majority of the one million people without a family doctor can ever reasonably expect to have one.

People who try to go private are demonized and providers are harassed, as if wanting to be longitudinally cared-for is “selfish” or it must be “the rich.”

In our case, the government is the customer and we are only the patients. As is the case in all commercial life, whoever pays makes the decisions.

The medical care we receive can only be government-approved, so we have limited ability to direct our own health. There is a reason why medical offerings not in the public system are doing fine.

The same applies to the practitioners, not complying with the government will put you out of a job in no time, even if it has no relevance. We don’t need to go far back to see where that happened.

No wonder interest to work in B.C. health care is so abysmal and burnout is rampant and will not change so long as we are only the patient.

Dan Richards

Saanich

Government debt makes our lives better

Re: “We will pay for Ottawa’s fiscal madness,” editorial, Dec. 8.

For decades, I have witnessed the cacophony and hand-wringing surrounding government deficits and the accumulating debt. Balancing budgets and overspending have become an obsession with politicians, particularly from the right of the political spectrum, and exacerbated by the media.

“Fiscal madness” reflects unnecessary panic, fiscal necessity is more appropriate. I have never observed what I consider to be a negative effect of government spending. Indeed, quite the opposite.

Historically, the Second World War comes to mind and indeed Medicare, where the criticisms based on affordability were front and centre. And more recently CERB, and the pending huge investment in affordable housing, lack of which is a national crisis. More is coming.

And yet we continue to hear the usual criticisms … over-spending, huge burden on future generations, debt costs eating up a larger share of federal revenue, fiscal irresponsibility, the “crowding-out effect”, and “slash and burn” policies in the future. The point being they pale against the benefits of spending.

The proof lies in the substantial gains made by working people as a result of large government investments, and yes producing debt, which for at least as long as Canada has been a country has been very manageable.

Robert Milan

Victoria

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