Re: 鈥淗ow foreign groups influence our vote,鈥� column, March 24.
Climate change and many other environmental issues are a global problem and demand a global response. Many people around the world donate to groups that are working on issues in other countries. Here we happen to have the oilsands.
For decades, fossil-fuel companies, many foreign-owned, have poured billions into promoting the extraction and transporting of this dirty and hard-to-process bitumen. Many of us have long been concerned about both the local environmental impacts and the cumulative increase in our carbon emissions, but felt discouraged by the extent to which governments and regulatory bodies have succumbed to well-funded fossil-fuel industry lobbying or financial influence.
If it is true that American foundations and individuals donated to help our largely volunteer-run environmental groups counter the barrage of tobacco-industry style propaganda from the fossil fuel industry, I don鈥檛 see this as a problem.
Climate change, which was not once referenced by Gwyn Morgan in this or his previous opinion pieces, is increasingly being recognized as an emergency. Neither local environmentalists nor international foundations are 鈥渁nti-fossil fuel鈥� without reason. Rather, they see expanding production, at a time when we have been warned that we have less than 12聽years to make substantial cutbacks, as an existential threat to our future.
It was gratifying to see our young students being inspired by Greta Thunberg to start participating in the climate strike and other political action. However, no doubt Morgan sees her as just one of his foreign-funded agitators.
Judy Gaylord
Victoria
