Wednesday 16 May 2018

Letter to Minister Morneau: Stop Supporting Fossil Fuel Extraction Now!


April 27, 2018
James Gerrie
118 Cromarty Street
Sydney, NS B1P 4W2


The Honourable Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance
House of Commons,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Morneau,

I am writing to you to express my concerns about the supports that Canadians provide to the fossil fuel industries today.  We have reached a critical juncture as a country and a species.  We should no longer be relying on fossil energy to power our society.  We must undertake with resolve and apply all our creativity to fashioning a new way of life that does not involve despoiling our environment.  Only governments can ultimately facilitate the kinds of changes we need to consider to make this transition.  We need leadership and law to help us to begin thinking and acting differently as individuals and communities.

Please consider as you meet with G-7 leaders ways to stop supporting fossil fuel extraction and to begin supporting and rewarding actions that lead to the reduction of the use of fossil energy.  We must not just wait for hoped for technological saviors.  We must begin making better decisions about all aspects of our lives as citizens when it come to energy consumption.  We will not begin making such decisions when our laws and institutions distort the costs of energy and fail to internalize their true costs.

As a parent and a teacher, I worry for the future that the young will receive from us.  While our society still has the wealth and resources necessary, we must use our treasure to lay the foundations for a secure and sustainable future.  It is not acceptable for us to leave this task for future generations.  It is the moral challenge of our generation—the equivalent of the great wars of the previous century.  We must be prepared to sacrifice now and show leadership in the face of powerful forces and groups who will inevitably resist facing the discomforts that we must face in making this difficult transition.  This is why I am writing to you.  We need leadership, not just custodial government.

Thank you for your efforts to make Canada’s tax system fairer.  You are obviously not a person concerned only with flattering the wealthy.  All Canadians by world standards are wealthy and although many will bemoan the risks of changing the status quo of our economic system, with good will, ingenuity and (I say this as a life-long NDPer) free-markets and entrepreneurial spirit, we can find ways to respond, which will not hurt the poor or unacceptably hamper leaders of industry.

Sincerely,
James Gerrie

cc. Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Hounourable Catherine McKenna, Mr. Peter Julian NDP Env. Critic

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