September 23rd, 2009
Climate Defender: Sharon Howarth
Anil Kanji
Guest post from Climate Defender Sharon Howarth
I consider myself a politically active person, always working on social and environmental issues close to my heart. For the last few years I’ve grown more and more concerned about the threat of climate change, now it’s my number one issue. It’s my number one issue because it’s connected to everything: food justice, healthcare, environment, water issues, social inequality and, yes, the Economy on which it has and will continue to have a huge negative impact.
Positive change comes about by the power of people - people participating in campaigns, raising awareness and even starting their own campaigns to compliment existing ones.
I’ve adopted KYOTOplus as my issue; I ‘m working hard to raise awareness around it - getting petitions signed and encouraging people to contact their elected government officials to demand action to halt climate change. I’ve heard back from some who’ve been contacting their MPs, and the news is not good enough.
Apparently our elected representatives see climate change as a low priority, saying they’re not really hearing from their constituents about it. Myself and a number of neighbours decided to do something about this. We wanted MP Michael Ignatieff to know that the people who live in his riding are concerned about climate change so we formed a group to take our message to him. We created a flyer to pass around the community informing constituents what effects inaction on climate change will have on them in terms of Health, Food and Water, Weather and Insurance, and the Economy (the Cost of Doing Nothing); I give this out before asking people to sign the KYOTOplus and the reception has been fantastic.
What makes the flyer powerful is the information about the negative effects climate change will have on the community, effects that will be seen in communities across Toronto and the country. Anyone is welcome to use the flyer as a template and to start their own canvas. Wouldn’t it be great to have a campaign started in Stephen Harper’s riding? It only takes ‘one’ person to get things moving and it makes a difference.
As well as collecting signatures while door-knocking, I’ve been collecting them at festivals and events, standing at busy street corners, and at the entrance of local parks – like the Leslie Spit Park; Whenever I’m out, whether for a few hours or much longer, I try to gather some signatures. I also collect them online, as a Greenpeace Climate Defender. Some of the signatures I collected on petitions and the funds that I raise are listed on my Climate Defender page. This is another great ‘tool’ to let officials know how the public is feeling about the issue. Thanks to Greenpeace, my efforts are maximized.
In the past, I’ve wasted time and energy worrying about issues and becoming anxious about the future; this was totally unproductive and left me feeling low. Now I’m out speaking up about solutions and I can see the change happening, it’s FUN, it’s inspiring and empowering.
Climate Defender Sharon Howarth has collected nearly 800 signatures for the KYOTOplus Petition. Most of these have been collected offline - she believes it takes time and effort to make a difference so she regularly spends a few hours collecting signatures and talking to others in the community. Thanks to Sharon!
Sign the KYOTOplus petition on Sharon’s Climate Defender page
If you want to join Sharon collecting signatures in Michael Ignatieff’s riding contact her at
climateactionnow.canada@gmail.com
or call 416-604-5783
Take action today!
Become a Greenpeace Climate Defender
Climate Defender: Sharon Howarth
Categories: Activism on the ground, Climate Defenders, Greenpeace, KYOTOplus
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October 9th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Mr. Harper:
Why have you shown the rest of Canada that you are not a man of your word. We will remember this at election time. Our performance with respect to the Kyota Accord is shameful and Canada knows this and last of all so do you.
If the climate representatives at Copenhagen are quoted as saying, “We are not here to discuss targets” then why are they and also you Mr. Harper there? All of you who do not care for climate control should tally up their tax-payers expences and give the money to Greenpeace who does care. The Fort McMurray Police should put all the politicians in jail for 32 hours and then tell them not to do any, “more mischeif”. The majority of Canadians care what Environmental Legacy we will leave our children and grandchildren. As Dr. Carl Sagan said, “we have no other planets to go to”.
October 11th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I fully endorse the letter written to Mr. Harper which appears above. We need to expose the fallacy of targets which focus on intensity. These just slow down the rate at which emissions increase. We need to direct federal and provincial funds for renewable energy research, not fossil fuel energy research. This especially applies to the tar sands.
I think we need to have a lot more critical questions asked of Mr. Harper and other Conservative cabinet ministers regarding environmental issues, especially climate change.