Are you familiar with layaway plans? Layaway plans are payment by installments and you take possession of the merchandise after you have paid in full. An advantage of layaway over buying on credit is you don’t pay interest. (Not paying interest is good because making only minimum payments, I would pay $38,000 in interest on my latest bill.)
Are fossil fuel-based industries on a layaway plan or are
they using a credit card? While their extraction is payment by installments—infrastructure,
equipment, and labour, they are charging gigantic sums on our shared ecosystem credit
card.
Ecosystems are circular. Withdrawing elements like water unbalances the cycle. One example is the Alberta tar sands tailing ponds’ water. Recycling the 1.2 trillion litres of toxic water to rebalance the ecosystem will absorb 50% of the estimated $130 billion total clean up. Less than $2 billion has been secured from industry.
Government issues industry our shared ecosystem credit card.
It sets environmental limits and charges interest. Sadly, our
first-past-the-post electoral system does not support diversity. Our
representatives are mostly wealthy lawyers and executives who prioritize the
economy over the environment. Their wealth insulates against environmental
devastation. To keep Earth habitable for humans, we need diverse
representatives, some who comprehend we depend on balanced circular ecosystems
and prioritize the environment over the economy. We need electoral reform with
proportional representation (PR). Support FairVote.ca,
NationalCitizensAssembly.ca,
and/or CharterChallenge.ca. Also,
mention to your elected representatives that countries that have evolved to PR get
better environmental report cards.
By Nancy Carswell
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