Citizens Climate Lobby

The IPCC1.5 Degrees Special Report & CCL, Australia’s Carbon Dividend Plan and more.

	CCL Canada Newsletter November 2018

Table of Contents:
	The IPCC 1.5 Degrees Report
	Australia's Carbon Dividend Plan
	Fridays for the Future - Dec. 7th
	Our National Director Speaks
	Fossil Fuel Subsidies in BC
	LTE of the Month
	CCL Canada Fundraising in Dec.

The IPCC 1.5 Degrees Special Report & CCL

Crisis? What crisis?

Many of you may have read about the clarion calls for climate action from the IPCC. We don’t have time to wait, and carbon pricing is a key policy going forward.

How good is carbon fee and dividend for the planet?

CCL’s Research Coordinator Rick Knight shared an excellent presentation at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report “Global Warming of 1.5°C.” (or SR1.5) at the Congressional Education Day in Washington in DC. In the presentation Rick answered three main questions: Why was this report written? What does it tell us that’s new? How does it inform CCL’s work?

If you want to feel hope, watch Rick’s presentation. And afterwards, hug an active CCLer because they are making history happen. Their focus and unconditional giving is why we are winning and going to win.

Rick will be sharing his presentation with us Friday, November 30 at 10 am PT / 1 pm ET SHARP!
(please note your time zone)
CCL Canada’s Zoom Room

Please mute your lines when you join the call.

A Climate Dividend for Australians

Australia, Canada and the United States of America all have some of the highest greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the world.

Luckily, all three countries also have Citizens’ Climate Lobby organizations and researchers investigating the impact of carbon fee and dividend in each of these countries.

The latest report A Climate Dividend for Australians was released on November 20. Similar to the studies done in Canada and the USA on the impacts of Carbon Fee and Dividend, the vast majority of households come out ahead, with the lowest quintile seeing the greatest gains.

Special Request - if you have friends and family down under, please ask them to join our CCL allies in Australia.

Let’s get too connected to fail.

JOIN CCL AUSTRALIA

Fridays for the Future - December 7th, 2018

On Friday November 2, 2018, an 11-year-old girl in Sudbury did not go to school. Sophia Mathur agrees with Greta Thunberg, the youth school striker in Sweden, that if adults don’t give a *damn* about her future why should she go to school?

Sophia had three interviews that day on radio, TV and print. One of Sophia's first tweets on Twitter went semi-viral too. And Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus joined Sophia in the park and got to know her. His wife Britt Griffin, author of the Wintermen, a dystopian climate change novel set in Northern Ontario, brought Sophia hot chocolate too. Despite the cold day, the community connections and hot chocolate filled everyone with warmth.

Sophia is not done. Her next strike will be on Friday, December 7. She is asking others to join her and Greta across Canada and the world.

Her three recommendations for your event are that:

Youth be the spokespersons whereas adults can help
The main message is, “Adults are jeopardizing our future”.
Please treat all politicians with respect and admiration for their service.

If there are students in your community who want to strike with Sophia and Greta and many students around the world, please register their strike here.

Our National Director Presents to Over 5,000 People at a No Fly Conference

On Saturday, November 24, 2018, We Don’t Have Time, The Club of Rome and Global Utmaning conducted a no-fly conference that has been viewed by at least 5,000 over the internet (Facebook, Twitter and Youtube).

"We still have time to act but we don't have time to wait”’ says Ingmar Rentzhog the founder of We Don’t Have Time.

The conference opens with the new We Don't Have Time Song featuring Adam Baptiste. Then Igmar conducted a fire alarm drill:

This is not a drill.

We can hear the alarm.

We can see the warning flashes.

We can even smell the smoke.

It’s crucial that we who understand the urgency of the climate crisis start to act.

We must run!

Because if we run, others will follow.

Thereafter there were many crucial conversations about the climate crisis. Of interest, was the panel discussion our National Director, Cathy Orlando, sat on at the 1:56:16 mark with Jamie Margolin (USA) of Zero Hour and Per Espen Stoknes (Norwegian expert on overcoming apocalypse fatigue).

Cathy brilliantly avoided the word tax during her presentation. Her joy for what we all achieved was palpable too.

WATCH CATHY'S PRESENTATION ON CANADA AND CF&D

Fossil Fuel Subsidies in BC Almost Totally Offset Carbon Tax Revenue

After participating in CCL Canada’s presentation on fossil fuel subsidies to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources in 2017, and learning that BC was a big contributor to those subsidies in Canada, CCLers in BC compiled information on fossil fuel subsidies in their province. They were very surprised that they added up to over $1 billion a year, including tax and royalty breaks for natural gas development, as well as carbon tax exemptions and rebates. This total does not include the recent announcement of $5.3 billion in subsidies for LNG Canada’s new Kitimat megaproject, nor does it include higher health-care costs that result from the impact that fossil fuels are inflicting on the water we drink, the air we breathe and the disastrous effects on our climate in general.

“ Continuing to give tax breaks for production and consumption of fossil fuels does not make sense in the midst of a climate crisis. The annual $1 billion in subsidies in BC almost completely offsets the $1.2 billion in carbon tax revenues, and hugely outweighs the few million spent on clean energy,” said Judy O’Leary from CCL BC. “This revenue could be used to help fund our much needed transition to a clean-energy economy.”

CCL British Columbia paired with Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) on a press release about fossil fuel subsidies in that province on Nov. 6.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE HERE

Letter to the Editor of the Month

This month’s letter to the editor comes from Wellington - Halton Hills, riding of the Conservative MP Michael Chong who was the only Conservative Leadership candidate with carbon pricing in his platform. No wonder he can do that because CCL Wellington-Halton Hills members have focused on writing letters to the editor in the Wellington-Advertiser. Here is the latest one from Ron Moore.

Fossil Fuel Dependency

This letter is in response to an opinion piece written by Gwyn Morgan, the former CEO of Encana, who called for the burning of more and more natural gas as a means to reduce GHG emissions. Sort of like telling a smoker to smoke more cigarettes to quit smoking!

RE: Opinion: Trudeau’s wrong-headed approach to climate change, Nov. 1. You would think from reading Gwyn Morgan’s “opinion,” he worked for a natural gas company - oh wait, he did.

He suggests the way to reduce greenhouse gases is to burn a different fossil fuel, and keep burning it and burning it … whereas, what a liveable world needs, is for us to stop burning fossil fuels of all types.

The latest IPCC report states we only have 12 years, at most, to significantly reduce emissions. Most economists, the EcoFiscal Commission, and recently a Nobel laureate all say the most efficient and cost effective way to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels is to put a tax on those same fossil fuels.

Morgan is correct that the starting price of $20 per ton of CO2 will have a negligible effect. But if taxpayers and industry understand that the tax will be predictably ramped up, they will have time to plan to make greener choices in their modes of transportation and keep buildings comfortable, while choosing more efficient processes and equipment.

No one expects us to stop driving fossil fueled vehicles overnight. They didn’t stop driving horse drawn buggies overnight either. Increasing the cost of fossil fuels will encourage industry to develop cheaper, longer range electric vehicles or hydrogen powered vehicles, or improved public transportation.

CCL Canada Fundraising in December and January

It has been a busy year. We achieved so much.

Now we plan to keep generating political will for carbon fee and dividend in our ridings.

If you can’t donate time, then please consider donating money.

Read more about CCL Canada's 2018 fundraising pitch here. And note that it includes a $10,000 matching donation.

CCL-USA is currently conducting their yearly fundraising. Please note money donated to CCL-USA from Canada does not go to CCL Canada.

Donate now to support CCL Canada’s climate action work

DONATE NOW

canada.citizensclimatelobby.org | ccl@citizensclimatelobby.org

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