Now that all three provincial political parties have agreed that climate change is real, man made and urgent, surely it is time for co-operation.
Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown is now promoting putting a price on carbon using a revenue neutral approach. This is a good policy which Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) has advocated for consistently.
However the Wynne government has adopted a cap and trade system similar to Quebec and California which takes effect next January.
The job of the two opposition parties must now be to ensure that revenue collected is indeed put towards carbon reduction projects. We must also ensure our most vulnerable citizens are protected from large increased costs.
As for the rest of us, years of over indulgence and lack of action to protect the environment means we must bear some of the cost. Continued arguing over which policy is best to reduce emissions is like firemen arguing over which hose to use while the house behind them burns.
Perhaps with co-operation from everyone we can begin to fix this disaster.
Sue Braiden