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One Cowichan Releases Climate Emergency Checklist for Local Governments

(Duncan, BC; August 19, 2019) Today the citizens group One Cowichan released a checklist to measure local governments’ progress towards climate emergency action. The 10-point list covers issues from land use and sprawl to transportation and energy efficiency.

“The purpose of this checklist is to give the public a way to measure whether local governments are actually making progress on reducing emissions and adapting to the climate crisis,” said Jane Kilthei with One Cowichan. “A critical first step is for local governments to stop approving sprawling housing and commercial developments, since they’re one of the biggest drivers of our increasing emissions.”

As a follow-up to our recent Beyond Climate community discussion, here is a Q&A with panelist Cara Pike, who was also featured in the film.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.

The second-best time is now.

- Chinese Proverb

Climate change is a bit like one of those psychology ink blot tests – ask people what our local governments should do about it and you get a wide range of answers, from water to plastics.

This was apparent when One Cowichan surveyed citizens about it. It is also apparent in the recent statements of some local elected officials who say they are already working on it, which when left loosely defined can mean anything we want it to, or if we’re not careful could mean pretty much the status quo with a green coat of paint.