To the Editor:
My heart goes out to all individuals who suffered loss from Hurricane Sandy. That said, I have no sympathy for the USA, or Canada for that matter.
I was hoping for much more damage from Sandy. The US has long been the world's worst polluter and is long overdue for a slap alongside the head from our environment. Global warming gave Sandy most of her punch. The destructive power of these storms is in direct proportion to ocean water temperature.
These mega storms are not an "Act of God", they are man made and have resulted in incredible damage and loss of life all around the world. Sandy's 50 billion dollars worth of damage should be a wake-up call to reduce the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. If common sense prevailed there would be no more tar sands expansion, the Keystone XL would be shelved, Northern Gateway shredded and the proposed LNG industry greatly reduced. Coal extraction should be monitored and controlled. Unfortunately we live in a world that has been blinded by greed. Our Conservative Government, with their destructive domestic and trade policies, is setting the stage for horrendous environmental damage.
As I write this letter, Stephen Harper is travelling the world selling/giving away as much fossil fuel as he possibly can. The US will rebuild and it will be business as usual until the next storm strikes. The US needs a storm ten times stronger than Sandy to bring some sanity to this world, a storm so strong that it will blow the tar sands oil right out of Stephen Harper's brain.
If life is to continue on planet earth we must use our vote and any other means necessary to bring environmental responsibility to our world. We must greatly reduce the extraction and burning of fossil fuels.
Our world needs to make effective lifestyle changes. Will it happen before our world has been totally destroyed by corporate greed driven pollution and irresponsible governments? One can only hope and pray. Overpopulation is the world's number one problem and it is the root cause of global warming and most of the rest of the world's problems as well. Population reduction and control, in overpopulated nations, should be the number one priority of every government and a significant part of every aid package.
Ed Pitt,
Dawson Creek
