As someone who cares about the environment, reading the news is often difficult. Every day there is another story about the present-day impacts of climate change, the future risks of catastrophes or the devastating consequences of corporations that tried to cut corners. Yet, despite the doom and gloom, there are still sources of optimism in sa国际传媒 that should not be overlooked.
Recently, the Senate finally passed Bills C-48 and C-69.
Bill C-48 will ban oil tankers north of Vancouver Island, protecting the coast from unnecessary disasters. Bill C-69 reforms the federal environmental assessment process for significant projects, including requiring consideration for climate-change impacts when evaluating resource extraction and transportation projects.
The House of Commons and the Senate also recently passed Bill C-68, which, among other things, amends the Fisheries Act to restore habitat protections eliminated in 2012 by the then-Conservative government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also announced the government鈥檚 intention to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021. And, the federal government has also passed a bill that bans keeping whales, dolphins and porpoises in captivity.
The 2019 federal budget also included significant green-focused items, including a grant for Canadians to buy electric vehicles. Less talked about, the budget expands plans for a public-transit infrastructure fund. This fund, alongside the budget鈥檚 $2.2-billion boost to municipalities, could help support the expensive transition toward developing greener communities.
These initiatives all build on the most significant and controversial decision of the Liberal government. The carbon tax is a game-changer.
When British Columbia introduced a carbon tax, Conservatives and pundits across sa国际传媒 remarked that it would be the death of the provincial economy. Now, with years of successive economic growth alongside reduced emissions in sa国际传媒, sa国际传媒 is joining.
The federal government has implemented a market-based solution for reducing emissions and creating incentives for innovation that should leave most families, and our environment, better off. This, despite loud opposition by conservative premiers spending considerable sums to challenge the 鈥減rice on pollution鈥� in court.
These changes did not occur in a vacuum. As elections in British Columbia and Prince Edward Island plainly showed, green parties are on the rise in sa国际传媒. In a recent EKOS poll, the Green Party of sa国际传媒 showed higher levels of support than even the NDP. This reflects similar shifts across Europe, including the rise of the German Greens to electoral prominence. Whether green parties control government policy, or are forcing other parties to incorporate green policies to maintain power, green initiatives are increasingly becoming the norm.
The present and future impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly clear to the public. As understanding grows, it is unlikely that green initiatives, and the parties that support them, will suddenly lose support. Consistent public-opinion polling has found that the overwhelming majority of Canadians not only believe in climate change, but also believe that policies to mitigate or fight it should be a top priority. Politicians are keenly aware of these trends, so it is no wonder the federal Liberals are even trying to tie Trans Mountain pipeline expansion approval into their green initiatives, through pledging the entire proceeds of the pipeline to green projects.
It is still too soon to say who will lead the green shift. It might continue to be led by individuals and parties that, like Trudeau鈥檚 Liberals, emphasize balancing the environment and the economy. Alternatively, groups taking a more radical or aggressive approach to fighting climate change might soon step in.
In either case, it seems implausible that politicians that fail to adopt the green shift will be able to win over younger generations of increasingly environmentally-conscious voters and consumers in the long term. However, if the UN is correct and there are only 11聽years left to prevent irreversible damage from climate change, the long term might be too far away. If so, remembering all of the recent environmentally focused initiatives can, hopefully, help green-minded people maintain their optimism.
Kyle Falk-Varcoe is a law student at the University of Victoria.
