Dear Editor:
RE: Canada not that bad? and ‘Ignoring energy facts’ (both April 25).
It’s true that Canada and Russia are the two coldest countries, however, most Canadians live south of 50 degrees latitude while most Russians live north of it. Russia’s per capita emissions are 13.3 tonnes/year while Canada’s are 15.2 tonnes/year.
Finland, Norway and Sweden are all north of 55 degrees latitude, yet their emissions are only about 0.1 % of the world emissions compared to Canada’s 1.5% contribution. Even so, they have worked hard over the years at bringing their emissions down to their current levels.
More and more Canadians are concerned about climate change and rather than looking for excuses, they are doing something about it, such as switching to heat pumps for more efficient heating and cooling, driving hybrid electric or electric vehicles, adding solar panels to their roof, improving insulation, using more public transportation or driving smaller fuel-efficient vehicles.
Being aware that the carbon tax was going to increase every year, I took steps to reduce my personal carbon footprint. As a result, I reduced it from 7.6 tonnes in 2018 to 1.2 tonnes last year.
Frustratingly, the tar sands cancelled the positive efforts of many Canadians. Alberta’s emissions increased from 236 mega-tonnes in 2005 to 256 in 2021. For comparison, Ontario’s emissions decreased from 204 mega-tonnes to 151 in the same time period.
Except for Alberta, Canadians are moving in the right direction, but we still need to do more.
Ron Moore,
Hillsburgh