Declaring myself

I just realized that it's been two weeks since my last moodling. Not that I haven't been doing plenty of it in other places while I'm harvesting my garden and working on other special projects. Harvest time is coinciding with a Federal Election, and I've decided that I can't sit on my hands this year when it comes to political participation. Less online moodling, and more action!

So as I'm dealing with produce, I'm also declaring my affiliations and getting active in a local election campaign, and I'm inviting you, my readers (all 16 of you, ha!) to do the same.

My daughter is wearing this t-shirt these days...

You may hate the idea of talking politics, but I'd like to assure you that there has never been a more important time to do so. The human population of our country and our world need to get our act together and step up to the challenge of reducing and adapting to the changes in climate that we are noticing more and more. For most of us in Canada, climate change is not serious yet, but we can't let that lull us into complacency! 

Listen to our scientists -- the people who study what's going on because of their passion for our planet have been telling us that its warming is endangering our survival. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report gave us 12 years to cut our fossil fuel emissions drastically, or we may not last much longer as a species.

But some say that 12 years is optimistic -- already we are seeing mega storms, mega fires, mega floods, mega droughts, mega heat waves and more than 7 million climate refugees looking for safer places to live since the beginning of this year alone... and on it goes.

In my part of the world this summer, we have had one of the coldest and wettest seasons on record, and I've heard lots of people comment, "Global warming? What global warming?"

My response is that it may not be hot here, but Europe saw temps around 45 degrees in some places this summer. Tuktoyaktuk is already losing land due to higher seas. Greenland was warmer than Edmonton a lot of the summer. Stream temperatures in Alaska reached the predicted temperature for 2069, fifty years ahead of time, and spawning salmon can't survive that kind of warmth. The burning of the Amazon is only making things worse. And how about Hurricane Dorian? Dismiss all these things as one-offs, and you're missing the message that our planet is trying to send us all.

If you know me at all, you know that I'm not the kind of person who is a pessimist. But I'm a realist, and I cannot, in good conscience, work for one of our three best known political parties. I'm working for the Greens because they are the only ones who are constant in making climate issues a priority.

I know that a lot of people are worried about vote splitting creating an opportunity for a less appreciated party to come up the middle and win, but this time, voting strategically is not an option for me. I want to see vote shifting -- using our limited resources to get to a greener economy, away from big polluting industries and toward options that care for people and the planet.

I am voting for, and working for, our climate. Sure, there are many other issues, but if we don't have a liveable environment, none of them matter. Though our Alberta government might be in denial, the world is shifting from fossil fuels to greener options, and I want Canada to hurry up and get on that bandwagon. And I'd like to see how the Greens would bring that about, because the other parties don't seem to understand that climate change and moving away from creating greenhouse gases is the main issue for this election and for our survival.

If we we work for our climate, we'll have a better planet overall. If we don't work for our climate, we may not have many more elections to try and fix things. 

We don't have much time. And making positive sacrifices for the sake of the planet right now, when things are relatively okay, will be much easier than adapting to bigger disasters further down the road.

Please, check out your green candidate, or better yet, call them and see if there's something small you can do to shift votes for the climate.

The time to make a difference is now.

We can't wait another 4 years

This election, it is critical to vote for climate change solutions. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gives humanity less than 12 years to reduce our carbon emissions and keep the warming of our planet under 1.5 degrees, we need to act now. We just had the hottest July ever, and if we don't do something, the deep trouble we're already in will only get deeper.

The video below is rather tongue-in-cheek, but it points out that kids see the real threat to their future and want to do what we adults have delayed doing for far too long. I would like to see the voting age dropped, maybe not to eight years of age, but you have to admit that it would be interesting to see what would happen in our world if kids could vote.

Today's food for thought. Also a pretty cute website, if you click here -- especially the FAQs! (Toward the bottom.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWf-bBEodSI

Simple Suggestion #91 revisited... Vote!

Almost exactly four years ago, voting was on the mind of Canadians because of a federal election. Today we've reached that same point. Unfortunately, too many people in our country don't vote because they don't feel it makes any difference -- they think politicians will do what politicians will do.

But I'm looking at the excitement of my daughters, neices and nephews, all of whom were engaged in this run up to today's political process, all of whom will cast their first vote in a national election. One of our girls has brought a petition to our MP and knows exactly who she is voting for. Would that we were all so engaged!

With so many places in the world where citizens have no say in how their country is led, we can't take voting for granted. Our elected Members of Parliament are there to listen to us, especially if we engage them. Please make sure to vote today.

My moodling from 4 years ago still holds:

October 19, 2011

As I write this, I am listening to a radio report about the first free vote in Tunisia in some peoples' lifetimes. The young woman they just interviewed was so excited to be able to vote, she couldn't sleep the night before. With her in spirit, my almost-eighteen-year-old daughter is chomping at the bit to vote. Would that all Canadians were like these two!

What non-voters don't seem to understand is that we have no right to complain about government or civic leaders if we do nothing when it comes to their election. We are blessed to live in a country where we have the right to vote, but if we're too apathetic to engage in the democratic process or talk to our politicians about what's really important, corporate greed may yet win over human need.

At the moment, the jury's still out as to which will come out on top. But our vote can remind our leaders that we all need clean air, fresh water and good soil to support the web of life on our planet. We can tell them that we ALL deserve a roof over our heads, clothes to keep us warm, food to sustain us, and community to support us. We can let them know that extravagance and greed are non-essentials, and encourage the positive works our politicians undertake. But if we're silent, they can't read our minds.

We ALL need to vote, engage, and join the discussion, for our sake and the sake of future generations. It's that simple.

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.

A platform worth considering

We're in federal election mode here in Canada, and have been for most of the summer, with more than a month to go. It drives me a bit crazy that the election was called so early, because the former ruling party has the most money to advertise and seems intent on emptying the smaller election chests of everyone else by forcing a lengthy election campaign (and frankly, their attack adds make me queasy). What's worse, though, is that there are four parties in most ridings, and only three party leaders are in the news coverage most days.

Unfortunately, it's the fourth leader who gets the least press and who has the best plan for our environment. Elizabeth May leads the Green Party, whose candidates understand that we can't continue exploiting our resources and polluting our air, soil and water the way we have been and expect to thrive. But the Greens are about more than the environment -- they have ideas about running the country in a manner that protects the environment, yes, but also looks after people, provides jobs and supports business, health, education, families and seniors.

The Green Party released its platform yesterday. Click here to read it. I'm not saying that everyone should vote Green -- that might cause vote splitting that could give us the same government for another four years and I'm not sure there are Green candidates in every riding -- but it can't hurt to read some new election ideas, especially since we've arrived at a time when the earth is counting on us to make choices that preserve its health. Bottom line, if the planet becomes too polluted to sustain life, we have nowhere else to go, and our most recent government seems to be in denial of that basic fact. We can't eat money, and we can't drink oil. As for breathing... well, the work of scientists that could tell us about Alberta's lousy air quality has been suppressed for who knows how long. Time for a change!

I have no idea what that change will look like, but let's all do ourselves a favour and imagine a healthy planet, a robust country, a compassionate society. Then, let's find a way to move toward them by letting our politicians know that they are what we want! If you're Canadian, quiz your local candidates about his or her plans for defending the environment, and don't forget to consider it when you vote on October 19th.

I last moodled about this video of Penelope four years ago, and can't resist sharing it again. It's an ad from Ontario that should apply to every election. Enjoy!

Simple Suggestion #91... Vote

As I write this, I am listening to a radio report about the first free vote in Tunisia in some peoples' lifetimes. The young woman they just interviewed was so excited to be able to vote, she couldn't sleep the night before. With her in spirit, my almost-eighteen-year-old daughter is chomping at the bit to vote. Would that all Canadians were like these two!

What non-voters don't seem to understand is that we have no right to complain about government or civic leaders if we do nothing when it comes to their election. We are blessed to live in a country where we have the right to vote, but if we're too apathetic to engage in the democratic process or talk to our politicians about what's really important, corporate greed may yet win over human need.

At the moment, the jury's still out as to which will come out on top. We can still remind our leaders that we all need clean air, fresh water and good soil to support the web of life on our planet. We can tell them that we ALL deserve a roof over our heads, clothes to keep us warm, food to sustain us, and community to support us. We can let them know that extravagance and greed are non-essentials, and encourage the positive works our politicians undertake. But if we're silent, they can't read our minds.

We ALL need to vote, engage, and join the discussion, for our sake and the sake of future generations. It's that simple.

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.