His focus remains unchanged: the world, and how weâre stuffing it up. Later in the interview, he summarises: âLook, mother nature is making it undeniable that climate change has kicked
âIn British Columbia, of course, we have forest fires, but the fires have been coming on a more regular basis, more intense, bigger and the fire season is starting earlier and lasting longer
the problem in Canada is that we are really held hostage to our oil province, Alberta, which has a total commitment to the fossil fuel industry. Itâs a petro state.
He gives an example that others have also made â the contrast between the extraordinary and rapid response to the Covid-19 crisis and the comparatively slow burn rollout in most places in response to the climate crisis.
people like me would go to Ottawa, begging for a few million dollars for public transit, for insulating houses, for the good things that have to be done. And the reaction was âoh well, you know, thatâs too much money, we donât have the moneyâ. Covid hits and suddenly, not tens of millions, not hundreds of millions, we spent over $300bn. Where the hell did that money come from? They just cranked it out. And
people like me would go to Ottawa, begging for a few million dollars for public transit, for insulating houses, for the good things that have to be done. And the reaction was âoh well, you know, thatâs too much money, we donât have the moneyâ. Covid hits and suddenly, not tens of millions, not hundreds of millions, we spent over $300bn. Where the hell did that money come from? They just cranked it out. And thatâs the response we need on climate.â
Suzuki, as usual, is to the point. He describes fracking as âthe dumbest way I can imagine to get energy. Itâs crazy,â he says. âThe amount of water thatâs being basically removed from use, and the leakage of the methane in these wells is massive.
At a personal level, he continues to push for the Canadian government to declare a climate emergency and follow through on the logical ramifications of that. He is particularly focused on the Canadian environment and climate change minister, Steven Guilbeault, a former Greenpeace director.
Zac Goldsmith in Britain now has resigned and said, âlook our government isnât serious about itâ. This is what we need â the ministers to get up and say, âlook, politics is killing us, we canât do anything because weâre held hostage by politicsâ.â
He traces humanityâs plight back to the Renaissance, when he says we lost the idea that we are embedded as a strand of nature dependent on everything around us â plants, animals, air, water, soil and sunlight â and instead placed ourselves at the top of a pyramid with everything else beneath us.
Thatâs been the fundamental failure, I think, of environmentalists, including me â that we havenât been able to get across the idea that the systems weâve developed are themselves limited and responsible for the destruction,â he says. âWeâve got to break out of that, and stop elevating the economy, our politics, our legal systems, as if they come before anything else.â
He expects the future response will probably include a shift towards self-sufficient local communities, disconnected from the global economy and focused on survival.
despair is a luxury we canât afford any longer,â he says when asked how he remains positive.
hope without action â if we say, âwell, shit, thereâs nothing I can do, but something will happenâ â thatâs giving up. We canât afford to do that.â
His focus remains unchanged: the world, and how weâre stuffing it up. Later in the interview, he summarises: âLook, mother nature is making it undeniable that climate change has kicked
âIn British Columbia, of course, we have forest fires, but the fires have been coming on a more regular basis, more intense, bigger and the fire season is starting earlier and lasting longer
the problem in Canada is that we are really held hostage to our oil province, Alberta, which has a total commitment to the fossil fuel industry. Itâs a petro state.
He gives an example that others have also made â the contrast between the extraordinary and rapid response to the Covid-19 crisis and the comparatively slow burn rollout in most places in response to the climate crisis.
people like me would go to Ottawa, begging for a few million dollars for public transit, for insulating houses, for the good things that have to be done. And the reaction was âoh well, you know, thatâs too much money, we donât have the moneyâ. Covid hits and suddenly, not tens of millions, not hundreds of millions, we spent over $300bn. Where the hell did that money come from? They just cranked it out. And
people like me would go to Ottawa, begging for a few million dollars for public transit, for insulating houses, for the good things that have to be done. And the reaction was âoh well, you know, thatâs too much money, we donât have the moneyâ. Covid hits and suddenly, not tens of millions, not hundreds of millions, we spent over $300bn. Where the hell did that money come from? They just cranked it out. And thatâs the response we need on climate.â
Suzuki, as usual, is to the point. He describes fracking as âthe dumbest way I can imagine to get energy. Itâs crazy,â he says. âThe amount of water thatâs being basically removed from use, and the leakage of the methane in these wells is massive.
At a personal level, he continues to push for the Canadian government to declare a climate emergency and follow through on the logical ramifications of that. He is particularly focused on the Canadian environment and climate change minister, Steven Guilbeault, a former Greenpeace director.
Zac Goldsmith in Britain now has resigned and said, âlook our government isnât serious about itâ. This is what we need â the ministers to get up and say, âlook, politics is killing us, we canât do anything because weâre held hostage by politicsâ.â
He traces humanityâs plight back to the Renaissance, when he says we lost the idea that we are embedded as a strand of nature dependent on everything around us â plants, animals, air, water, soil and sunlight â and instead placed ourselves at the top of a pyramid with everything else beneath us.
Thatâs been the fundamental failure, I think, of environmentalists, including me â that we havenât been able to get across the idea that the systems weâve developed are themselves limited and responsible for the destruction,â he says. âWeâve got to break out of that, and stop elevating the economy, our politics, our legal systems, as if they come before anything else.â
He expects the future response will probably include a shift towards self-sufficient local communities, disconnected from the global economy and focused on survival.
despair is a luxury we canât afford any longer,â he says when asked how he remains positive.
hope without action â if we say, âwell, shit, thereâs nothing I can do, but something will happenâ â thatâs giving up. We canât afford to do that.â
