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The ability to participate in activism is a privilege. 
Many simply do not have the time, money, or emotional bandwidth to take on a global cause.  Individual “behavior” changes will only account for around 4 percent of cumulative emissions reductions in the path to net zero. What’s needed today is sustained outrage at the powerful, by those with the time and resources to express it. However worse the climate crisis gets now depends on how quickly society transforms. How quickly society transforms depends on how many people demand it.
Emily Atkin, HEATED

https://heated.world/p/what-can-i-do-anything?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo3MDcyOTkyLCJwb3N0X2lkIjozODEwMDUxNCwiXyI

Liz Armstrong adds: “Truly love Emily’s calls for courage and action - that is the essence of GASP as well”.
Sustained outrage from GASP over the summer
GASP was quoted in a Toronto Star Editorial on July 1
on the passing of Bill C-12. Our voice is being heard. 
 
"Concrete emissions targets are now the law in this land. As with any such legislation, the proof will lie in its implementation. GASP, or the group Grand(m)others Act to Save the Planet, says it is pleasing to see the government take this firm step.
Now it’s time to shift to emergency mode."

Actions taken by GASP this summer

#1 - Trying to prevent Halton Region’s long-term land use plans
from drastically increasing the area’s GHG Emissions

Rally at Halton Region Headquarters on Bronte Road  - June 29 2021

GASP organized a rally to promote firm urban boundaries in Halton Region. This is not the time to be paving over farmland. We are promoting support for the Growth Scenario 3B to preserve our urban boundaries & save 8000 acres of farmland. We are in a Climate Emergency!
Roman  Talkowski, Louise Brownlee, Lorraine Green,
Carole Holmes and Donna Hall-Clark
Michelle Tom protests on Bronte Road along with other GASP members and supporters. There is no effective response to climate change that does not involve local governments. The most powerful mechanism is land use planning because it can lock in a lot of emissions.
An article on GASP's Rally appeared in the June 29 edition of Oakville News. We are in a Climate Emergency - this is not the time to be paving over farmland! 

#2 - GASP’s First “Sing for the Climate” Music Video 

Lorraine writes: “Here it is, the GASP Choir singing for the climate. We don’t think we are ready for “Canada’s Got Talent” just yet, but we did have fun! Many thanks to Carole for hosting the Garden Party; Lella Cucinelli (top right on photo below) for driving from London and shooting the video (plus many hours of editing);  Norma  Gamble, our fearless director (top left photo beside Carole Holmes); Pat and Ron McKee for their musical accompaniment; and the “GASP Choir” for joining in and singing with gusto and passion.” Here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buJF6tw1oaM&feature=youtu.be

#3 - GASP members showed up for the July 24 Day of Action organized locally by Aki Tanaka of Climate Action Oakville
The Ontario government wants to build two massive new megahighways, Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. If built, the highways would pave over farms, forests, wetlands and a portion of the Greenbelt, and cost Ontario taxpayers upwards of $6-10 Billion. Highway 413 alone would also add almost 17 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, at a time when cutting emissions is more urgent than ever. (Environmental Defence) 

GASP members turned out (despite rain) to urge the government to drop these two highway projects. As taxpayers, we want our money invested in public transit. Climate science shows we need to get cars off the road. And traffic studies show new highways result in “induced demand” and more traffic congestion.  https://www.wired.com/2014/06/wuwt-traffic-induced-demand/
GASP Members for Climate Justice and against Mega-highways!
Above left: Bev Lefrancois fights for protection of farms, forests and wetlands. 
Above right: Pat McKee stands in front of the Oakville Go Station demanding investments in more green public transit and a more affordable 407.  
GASP member Ron McKee, looking like Captain Canada in his red and white shirt, demands Climate Action Now! With droughts, wildfires, heat domes, who can deny that we are in an Emergency??!!
Left: GASP member Louise Brownlee holding her protest sign on Trafalgar Road appeared in the Oakville Beaver - July 29, 2021

Right: Aki Tanaka, Oakville Climate Action, organized the Oakville rally. GASP members were big supporters. Aki was interviewed by CHCH TV. The segment aired twice. 
Globe & Mail - Saturday, July 3 2021
Why the Emergency? Climate change is HERE AND NOW!
A few of the summer headlines: 
  • More than 800 people died in a week in B.C. during the record-breaking heat wave that hit the province at the end of June. The province saw more than four times the average number of deaths for the week of June 25 - July 1.  
 
  • Nature also took a big hit in BC. Scientists estimate that more than a billion intertidal animals roasted in the heatwave.
 
  • B.C. heat wave 'cooks' fruit crops on the branch in sweltering Okanagan and Fraser valleys. The province's two major fruit-growing regions saw multiple days of temperatures above 40 C.

And it’s not just happening outside the GTA
 
The World Health Organization and The Lancet have both declared climate change the number one health threat of this century.

Toronto’s air quality this week highlights that we are not immune from the health impacts of the climate crisis....Remote Indigenous communities are suffering most of all from these fires, and in Toronto, people experiencing homelessness, people who work outdoors, and people living in poverty are most at risk... This is not the new normal; things will only get worse....

We must also immediately stop subsidizing fossil fuels and stop building fossil fuel infrastructure. We need to decarbonize our transportation and our built infrastructure. 

Dr. Samantha Green, University of Toronto’s Department of Family and Community Medicine. Toronto Star - July 27 2021 
 
Climate tipping points are difficult to predict. 
In Canada and beyond, they might have already arrived
Canada announced a plan to develop a national adaptation strategy in December 2020. But experts warn the country is not ready for the climate we have now, and needs to move fast to respond to the future.
"The reality is that we should assume that we're not going to meet that [Paris Agreement] target of 2 C," said Gordon McBean, a professor at the Western University in London, Ont., of the global deal to reduce carbon emissions to stop the worst impacts of climate change. 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/climate-change-tipping-points-extreme-weather-1.6122867
.
‘Climate Allows Society’, Governor General Mary Simon Tells Official Ceremony
 
“For many years, Canada has experienced a disproportionate level of impact from climate change because the Arctic is warming faster than almost anywhere else on the planet,” she added. “The twin global crises of nature destruction and climate change are undoubtedly the challenge of our time. For evidence, we need only look at the Arctic, and what has happened this past month across the country: the devastating impacts of forest fires, prolonged droughts, record heat waves.” Simon added that, “in order to have a healthy future, we must reset our thinking to understand that nature contains and creates our climate. Our climate allows society to be possible, and within our society is our economy.”
https://www.theenergymix.com/2021/07/29/climate-allows-society-governor-general-mary-simon-tells-official-ceremony/

We have to show people how to make a difference
49% Want Urgent Climate Action as Canadian Wildfire Impacts Mount
“People are very aware of climate change,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Global Public Affairs at Ipsos. But younger people are more likely to see the need to do something about it. ... For that age group, “climate change has become one of those existential issues of our age—and there’s a unanimity among younger people as to the importance of the issue and the need to do something about it,” he said. “The next challenge on the climate change issue will be moving from simple ways of raising awareness to actually showing people how they can make a difference.”
https://www.theenergymix.com/2021/07/29/49-want-urgent-climate-action-as-canadian-wildfire-impacts-mount/

Here’s a vision of the future in which the climate crisis is solved
(TED Talk - 10 minutes) 
Legendary sci-fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson tells the "history" of how humanity ended the climate crisis and restored the damage done to Earth's biosphere. A rousing vision of how we might unite to overcome the greatest challenge of our time. This ties in with Rebecca Solnit quote at end of Wrap-up. 
Canada's new net-zero advisory panel to explore 'carbon budget' 
as part of 2050 goal
We have identified 10 values and principles to guide the development of transition pathways that are most likely to lead Canada to achieve net-zero by 2050. We find that by following these 10 values and principles, Canada can define pathways to net-zero that are not only achievable but that can lead to a healthier fairer and prosperous future for all Canadians.

Effective Pathways share these Design Principles:
1) Act early and urgently
2) Be bold and proactive
3) Acknowledge there is more certainty than uncertainty
4) Don’t get caught in the “net”
5) Beware of dead-ends

Effective Pathways share these Foundational Values:
1) Seize the upsides
2) Put people first
3) Motivate and empower Canadians
4) Collaborate every step of the way
5) Recognize and respect regional differences and circumstances

A big recommendation we’ve made is to explore the use of carbon budgets for Canada. We find that the most likely pathways are the ones that start now, use a carbon budget as a basic tool, and increase ambition to keep the 2050 goal within reach. 
https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/canada-s-new-net-zero-advisory-panel-to-explore-carbon-budget-as-part-of-2050-goal-1.5499552

Upcoming Federal Election (Whenever it may be) 
By endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Government of Canada can start to give us hope that we can leave our children and grandchildren a stable and livable planet. 

The May 2021 report by the scientifically conservative International Energy Agency described the path to net zero emissions by 2050 as “narrow and extremely challenging” and concluded, among other things, that no new fossil fuel projects should be approved. This is a stunning statement from this organization. With talk of a federal election in the air, we want to know which parties we can count on to endorse this Treaty? 

As public and clinical healthcare professionals who are deeply concerned about the risks that climate change presents to the livability of the planet, we were encouraged by Toronto City Council’s July 15th decision to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.  This treaty calls upon countries to phase out fossil fuels – whose consumption serves as the single greatest cause of climate change – and invest in a just transition to a sustainable and decarbonized energy system.  We are now hoping that Canada’s five federal parties will do the same.  
https://chasecanada.org/2021/07/27/the-public-health-case-for-a-fossil-fuel-non-proliferation-treaty-2/

This is a great example - let’s hope the momentum builds
Steel giants sign up for carbon-cutting transformation - $2.5-billion plans would see Algoma and Dofasco axe up to 1% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions

Two Canadian steel companies have promised to invest almost $2.5 billion in CO2 reduction projects, instantly transforming themselves from high-polluting greenhouse gas laggards into leaders in the fight against climate change. 
Oil and Gas Industry 
Where is the Transition to Renewable Energy?
Canadian Fossil Expansion ‘Not Well Aligned’ with Net-Zero

The co-chair of a new expert panel set up to advise Ottawa on how to reach net-zero emissions says expansion of Canada’s tar sands/oil sands industry is “not well aligned” with that goal. Dan Wicklum’s remarks were part of a release last week on the idea of setting a carbon budget for the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, The Canadian Press reports. They landed just as two of Canada’s top fossil CEOs opened a pitch for C$50 billion in taxpayer subsidies to bring their production emissions to zero by 2050 (without accounting for the more than 80% of their total emissions that occur when their product reaches its final destination and is used as directed).
How Plastic Water Bottles Contribute to Global Warming
(Note: more than 99 percent of plastics are made from fossil fuels.) 

The energy required to produce the plastic resin from oil, transport the resin pellets to the factory, form the bottles, process the water, clean, fill, seal and label the bottles and transport them to market is up to 2,000 times the energy required to produce the equivalent volume of tap water. 
 
Consider the energy needed to dispose of the bottles. And what about all the bottles that are not recycled? Even more greenhouse gases are emitted when solar radiation degrades plastic in the environment. ...Think for a moment and imagine a future in which nature and humanity thrive. This is not a future that has bottled water in it.
Upcoming Zoom Events this week - August 9 - 13
Mon  Aug 9   7 pm    Retrofitting Your Home to Save on fuel costs &  reduce GHG emissions hosted by 4RG (For Our Grandchildren) 

Buildings account for 18% of GHG emissions in Canada so almost all existing homes must eventually be retrofitted for better energy efficiency to reduce their emissions. Otherwise we will have no chance of hitting Canada’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050. The cost of home retrofits can be reduced by financial incentives from several different sources. Al Slavin will host this talk to provide you with enough information to start your retrofit. For many homeowners, a retrofit can have a financial payback time as short as 3 to 5 years. To register: 
Email: 4RGmeets@gmail.com and we will forward the Zoom link
Tues   Aug 10   7 pm  OR  Tues Sep 14  7 pm  Mixed-use rental development proposal in Bronte Village
Podium Developments (https://www.podiumdevelopments.com) has invited GASP members to attend a Public Information Meeting regarding 77 East, a proposed mixed-use development at the intersection of Lakeshore Road West and East Street. GASP has been invited to learn more about the development proposal and how it will be a strong contributor to sustainable city-building, and to ask questions, share comments and help to shape the future of this landmark site. To register: visit www.77east.ca

Thurs, August 12   7:00 pm - 8:30 pm    Mobilize for Climate Action
Organized by Environmental Defence 
The climate crisis is a daunting problem to try and solve alone -  but together we can do something about it. The Listening Circle is a 1.5 hour participatory event where we want to hear from you. There will be speakers from Environmental Defence. To register:

Dare we hope? Here’s my cautious case for
climate optimism

That we are living in science fiction was brought home to me last week when I put down Kim Stanley Robinson’s superb climate-futures novel The Ministry for the Future (See TED talk by Robinson earlier in this Wrap-up) and picked up Bill McKibben’s New Yorker letter on climate, warning of the melting of the Thwaites Glacier, “already known as the ‘doomsday glacier’ because its collapse could raise global sea levels by as much as three feet”.

It’s not easy to see all the changes – you have to be a wonk to follow the details on:
  • new battery storage solutions or 
  • the growth of solar power in cheapness, proliferation, efficiency and possibility, or 
  • new understanding about agriculture and soil management to enhance carbon sequestration. 
You have to be a policy nerd to keep track of the countless new initiatives around the world. They include, recently:
  • the UK committing to end overseas fossil fuel finance in December,
  • the EU in January deciding to “discourage all further investments into fossil-fuel-based energy infrastructure projects in third countries”, and
  • the US making a less comprehensive but meaningful effort this spring to curtail funding for overseas extraction. 
In April, oil-rich California made a commitment to end fossil fuel extraction altogether – if by a too-generous deadline. 

The organization Carbon Tracker, whose reports are usually somber reading, just put out a report so stunning the word encouraging is hardly adequate. In sum, 
  • current technology could produce a hundred times as much electricity from solar and wind as current global demand; 
  • prices on solar continue to drop rapidly and dramatically; and 
  • the land required to produce all this energy would take less than is currently given over to fossil fuels. 

It is a vision of a completely different planet, because if you change how we produce energy you change our geopolitics – for the better – and clean our air and renew our future. 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/01/climate-change-environment-hope-future-optimism-success
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