Canada’s position that it’s “Line 5 or bust”
also goes against well-established facts about what will happen
if—when—the pipeline literally busts open under the Straits of Mackinac,
Pollack says.
And it is only a matter of time before that happens, she adds: “The
danger of a breach of this age-compromised pipeline spanning a major
shipping lane in the world’s largest freshwater body increases with
every passing day.”
Although Pollack makes clear that she writes as a private citizen,
she does invoke her nine years as head of the IJC—an entity whose advice
was, and remains, “invariably based upon science and thoughtful
negotiations.”
In light of that history, she says, she would expect both countries
to acknowledge certain facts. First in that lineup? That examination of
Line 5 “shows thinning of the pipeline walls and a history of breaks in
the lakebed anchors essential to keeping the pipeline tightly fixed to
the lake bottom.” Further, she adds, “a current jury-rigged system of
bottomland attachments allows this bent and corroded pipeline to flex
and float in ways it was never designed to tolerate—stresses that
intensify the risk of a breach.”
We are at a moment of overlapping planetary health emergencies: COVID-19 and climate change. Both have their origins at the intersection of humanity and the rest of the natural world, both exacerbate pre-existing health inequities and both have the ability to bring health systems and economies to their knees.
The health impacts of COVID-19 are well-known — those of climate change less so. A new report by the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, an international collaboration among 38 leading academic institutions and U.N. agencies, shows that as the globe warms humans are experiencing increasing heat emergencies, wildfires, severe weather, trouble with food yields and potential for novel infectious diseases.
We need to “multisolve” — manage COVID-19 and climate change at the same time, looking for the sweet spots where a single measure can deliver the triple-win of improving public health, contributing to a sustainable economy and reducing the drivers of future crises.
The Canadian policy brief associated with the Lancet report has suggestions for doing just that.
Protect our homes
The report shows a record 2,700 heat-related deaths occurred among people over the age of 65 in Canada in 2018. Globally, the last two decades have seen a 59 per cent increase in heat-related mortality in older people.
The economic costs are also growing: work hours lost due to extreme heat exposure were 81 per cent higher in 2015-19 compared to 1990-94. Immediate action is required.
Many Canadians have had their living circumstances made precarious through COVID-19. In its fall budget update, the federal government announced $1 billion in funding, through the Rapid Housing Initiative, to be used for the construction of modular housing and affordable housing units.
All of the projects funded through this and other federal construction and retrofit programs should be evaluated for their location relative to flood-prone areas, their ability to ensure adequate ventilation and air filtration to cope with heat emergencies and wildfire smoke, and their alignment with our goal of living in a net-zero nation by 2050.
Clean the air
We must also clear the air of the pollution we can control. The Lancet report shows that in 2018 there were 7,200 premature deaths in Canada related to fine particulate air pollution from human-caused sources. This is four times higher than the number of deaths from transport accidents.
The largest portion, found by the Lancet to be over 30 per cent, was due to emissions from households, such as burning fuel for heating. That means that energy efficient retrofits can save lives!
Finally, we need to increase the resilience of health systems. In addition to ensuring health-care structures are prepared for floods and fires in terms of siting, adequate ventilation systems, and more, we must take another look at supply chains.
We learned through the pandemic that producing personal protective equipment (PPE) at home helps to ensure its availability in the face of supply chain disruption. We’ve also seen the disadvantages of not having the ability to produce the leading COVID-19 vaccines at home.
With climate set to drive further health-related emergencies as well as economic crises a shift from a culture of efficiency to one of resiliency is required. We could decrease our healthcare-related footprint and reduce the risk of supply disruption by switching to reusable medical supplies such as gowns and blood pressure cuffs.
Canada is now full of armchair epidemiologists, but few of us could draw an approximation of the country’s projected warming curve. A leap in understanding is required: this forecast must inform planning in all sectors.
As the Lancet report says, unless immediate action is taken this will threaten not only lives and livelihoods, but also compromise the hospitals and clinics we depend on.
COVID-19 is a hinge moment in human society — a time to pause, to reset. Although health workers have been appropriately lauded through this pandemic for the care they are providing, it is becoming clear that from wearing masks to retrofitting our homes, we all share the responsibility, and the honour, of saving lives.
With the Canada Pension Plan’s biannual public meetings
under way this week, people from across Colorado have put together a
series of video messages asking Canadian pension holders to stop funding
fossil fuel companies—particularly Denver-based Crestone Peak Resources, a company 95% owned by the CPP.
“Whether you know it or not, you’re one of 20 million
Canadian workers and retirees that benefit from the Canadian Pension
Plan,” says one unidentified Coloradan, one of several who rotate
through the narration on the five-minute video
produced by 350 Colorado and Fossil Free PERA. “Unfortunately, your
pension savings are being invested in ways that pollute our air, our
water, harm the health of our children, and even influence our elections
to benefit the oil industry.”
In the wake of public outrage about the systemic racism and disproportionate police violence experienced by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC), a new report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council documents troubling findings of environmental racism and injustice in Canada.
The report, authored by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Toxics who completed a visit to Canada in 2019, shines the spotlight on longstanding discriminatory and health devastating pollution experienced by Indigenous and Black communities across Canada including the mercury pollution crisis in Grassy Narrows, the pollution from petrochemical plants in Aamjiwnaang First Nation, the placement of toxic waste sites near African Nova Scotian communities, and oil sands pollution in Fort McMurray. It also exposes severe problems in government laws and policies that have resulted in unequal and unacceptable toxic exposures in vulnerable and marginalized populations.
Here are some of the important findings from the report:
Ottawa
intends to release plans this autumn to reduce the carbon intensity of
liquid fuel by 12% by 2030, including by requiring refiners to blend
cleaner combustibles with fossil fuels under a Clean Fuel Standard,
government and industry officials said.
The
standard aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 million tonnes
by 2030, a critical part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s green plan.
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said it represents a lifeline to
the economy as it struggles to regain momentum after lockdowns.
“This
is actually a huge economic opportunity to diversify the economy and
create a market for clean products,” Wilkinson told Reuters.
