[All] Record Coverage: KW Climate change event

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Hi folks! This was just published. Lots of folks attended. Woo hoo!
 
Lulu :0)
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Protesters push for concrete action on climate change 
By Brian Caldwell, Record staff

WATERLOO – About 100 people in Waterloo joined activists in countries around the world Saturday to press for concrete government action on climate change.
“We need to send a message to our political leaders,” said organizer Laura Dyck, a student at the University of Waterloo. “They can give all the speeches they want, but that won’t change the chemistry of our atmosphere.”
Protests were pegged on the number 350 – the parts-per-million carbon dioxide level that activists say is the scientifically accepted safe upper limit.
The goal is to pressure politicians – who are scheduled to meet in six weeks for the United Nation’s climate change conference in Copenhagen – to agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions enough to get back to that level.
Local protesters took their message straight to Kitchener-Waterloo MP Peter Braid, marching to his office with a letter and a petition after gathering for speeches in downtown Waterloo.
“It’s not just hypothesis,” said UW student Claire Pella. “It’s something that affects everyone.”
Byron Williston, a philosophy professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, said the key is getting people to feel a sense of urgency when the worst impact of climate change might not be felt for a couple of generations.
“We just don’t naturally think about people who are going to be alive 100 years from now,” he said. “That’s the trick. That’s the ethical challenge.”
One of the main speakers at the rally, Williston argued we have a moral responsibility to do what’s necessary now to ensure the health of the planet in the future.
“The window of opportunity here is small and closing fast,” he said.
Jean-Michel Toriel took a more tangible approach.
He’s head of ForestEthics, a local environmental group targeting politicians in the federal ridings of Kitchener-Waterloo and Kitchener Centre, both narrowly won by Conservatives in the last election.
Toriel said the close results guarantee plenty of scrutiny here before the next trip to the polls and make candidates more likely to listen to voters to keep or win the seats.
“They understand the pressure is on,” he said, noting the local effort is part of a larger campaign by a coalition of environmental groups to target swing ridings.
International Day of Climate Action events were scheduled for 170 countries, including rallies across Canada.
 
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