Smog is our future? Some of us care...
I am a contributor for Calgary Herald's Q Blog. Here is my latest contribution.
The last couple of days it has been very hazy and smoky in the City of Calgary. It got me thinking about the environment and the future of our great country. I look out the window and the visibility is very poor. I thought to myself, what if it was always like this or maybe it would get worse. For a person who is asthmatic and has allergies, this can be especially troubling. I know forest fires cause most of this smoke, but our smog factor seems to be getting worse each year.
I think about how wasteful we live in our oil rich city. I catch the bus to work in the mornings and I realize how many people are driving big gas guzzling trucks and SUVs often with just one person in them. Maybe they can afford the gas, but how wasteful and unnecessary. Do people believe just because they can do something they should?
One of the reasons why I always loved Calgary and Alberta so much is because of the how clean and pristine the environment and air was. But as our city passes the million mark and industry moves forward with a hurricanes force this is starting to change.
I was in Toronto a few years back for a week. I admired the big city, its cultural and vibrant metro life. But after a few days I started to miss Calgary. I missed the bountiful prairies, the view of the Mountains and freshness of our water. I walked around downtown Toronto and I could smell the pollution and I started to get depressed as a realized there was very little green spaces in this concrete jungle. I remembered when I first flew over Toronto I seen this small black cloud over it and I wondered if this was a weather phenomena. But my friend corrected me and let me know that it was a permanent feature, it was there smog cloud that was generally always there. I walked along the streets and I could smell the filth and see the steam come up from the sewers. It eventually made me very sick and I wanted to come home to our beautiful city and walk in a park.
But our city is starting to change and with growth come this filth. After a while you will understand when you smell car exhaust on your clothes and in your hair. Imagine our city in 20-30 years. You go to look up at the skyscrapers, but you cannot see the top, clouded by a smoke and pollution. At night you remember when you were young and you looked up at the stars, later you start to forget what stars look like. You remember when you were young and you could see the beautiful Rocky Mountains, but all you can see now a thick black cloud of smog on the horizon.
It is time we start thinking seriously about our city and province and what direction we want to head. We can choose to let industry have carte blanche over the industrial and resource development of our province. Or do we take a serious look at degradation of our environment and what cost will come to our quality of life? I wonder do the CEOs and politicians care about what kind of life and future there children, grandchildren and descendents will have? Or do they just care about their immediate monetary gain?
It is not just the CEOs and politicians we all have a responsibility to do something more comprehensive if we want a healthy future. Many Albertans cry foul over the possibility of a carbon tax and the cost to industry. What about the cost to life and humanity? Is not that also important?
Links
Scott Brison's Clean Air Policy
Michael Ignateff's Plan for the Environment
The last couple of days it has been very hazy and smoky in the City of Calgary. It got me thinking about the environment and the future of our great country. I look out the window and the visibility is very poor. I thought to myself, what if it was always like this or maybe it would get worse. For a person who is asthmatic and has allergies, this can be especially troubling. I know forest fires cause most of this smoke, but our smog factor seems to be getting worse each year.
I think about how wasteful we live in our oil rich city. I catch the bus to work in the mornings and I realize how many people are driving big gas guzzling trucks and SUVs often with just one person in them. Maybe they can afford the gas, but how wasteful and unnecessary. Do people believe just because they can do something they should?
One of the reasons why I always loved Calgary and Alberta so much is because of the how clean and pristine the environment and air was. But as our city passes the million mark and industry moves forward with a hurricanes force this is starting to change.
I was in Toronto a few years back for a week. I admired the big city, its cultural and vibrant metro life. But after a few days I started to miss Calgary. I missed the bountiful prairies, the view of the Mountains and freshness of our water. I walked around downtown Toronto and I could smell the pollution and I started to get depressed as a realized there was very little green spaces in this concrete jungle. I remembered when I first flew over Toronto I seen this small black cloud over it and I wondered if this was a weather phenomena. But my friend corrected me and let me know that it was a permanent feature, it was there smog cloud that was generally always there. I walked along the streets and I could smell the filth and see the steam come up from the sewers. It eventually made me very sick and I wanted to come home to our beautiful city and walk in a park.
But our city is starting to change and with growth come this filth. After a while you will understand when you smell car exhaust on your clothes and in your hair. Imagine our city in 20-30 years. You go to look up at the skyscrapers, but you cannot see the top, clouded by a smoke and pollution. At night you remember when you were young and you looked up at the stars, later you start to forget what stars look like. You remember when you were young and you could see the beautiful Rocky Mountains, but all you can see now a thick black cloud of smog on the horizon.
It is time we start thinking seriously about our city and province and what direction we want to head. We can choose to let industry have carte blanche over the industrial and resource development of our province. Or do we take a serious look at degradation of our environment and what cost will come to our quality of life? I wonder do the CEOs and politicians care about what kind of life and future there children, grandchildren and descendents will have? Or do they just care about their immediate monetary gain?
It is not just the CEOs and politicians we all have a responsibility to do something more comprehensive if we want a healthy future. Many Albertans cry foul over the possibility of a carbon tax and the cost to industry. What about the cost to life and humanity? Is not that also important?
Links
Scott Brison's Clean Air Policy
Michael Ignateff's Plan for the Environment
posted by Joshua Fraser | 11:43 AM
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