It is always so disheartening, not to mention tiresome, to hear even now, in 2024, people denying climate change is real.
It's especially disheartening to hear our public officials spread this kind of misinformation (at best, at worst it's disinformation).
Yes, there is a large scientific consensus that the climate of Earth is changing and that humans are spurring it to do so at an unprecedented rate.
Sure, if you look you can find the few who disagree, either genuinely so or due to a lot of money coming their way from special interests.
The weight of agreement to disagreement, however, is nowhere near equal and we shouldn't be pretending that it is, just because denial might be more comfortable.
Just consider that if you look, you can also find a bunch of people who think the Earth is flat. Thankfully nobody is arguing that our governments should be making policy decisions based on that nonsense.
It's also worth considering what's being proposed by governments such as North Cowichan's to mitigate the effects of climate change on our communities.
It's things like making our infrastructure more resilient in the face of natural disasters, which are expected to increase as global warming continues. What's so terrible about that? Even if by some unlikely chance the naysayers are right, preparing ourselves better for floods, fires, wind, snow, rainstorms and drought is just a good idea in general.
What we absolutely cannot do is nothing, while we cross our fingers that we'll get lucky again next year like we have so far this year (knock on wood; remember that massive windstorm just before Christmas in 2018). That's not planning. That's not responsible. That's not leadership.
After part of the Beverly Street area and Cowichan Tribes lands flooded in 2009 our governments raised dikes and made other changes so it won't happen again.
But we expect good government to go beyond that and not just react after people have been forced from their homes, workplaces and neighbourhoods.
We have already experienced droughts, floods, windstorms and have been remarkably lucky on the fire front. Why anyone would argue we shouldn't do something about these recurring incidents is frankly baffling, especially when the best evidence we have tells us that more are likely headed our way. Pretend they have nothing to do with climate change if you like, but that still doesn't give our leaders a licence to ignore prudent preparation.
We can discuss and argue about what we should do about it, what the first priorities are, how much we want to spend on them, and how we should pay for them (and who will pay). It will cost us more now, but will save us later.
