{"id":159081,"date":"2024-08-11T13:49:10","date_gmt":"2024-08-11T17:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=159081"},"modified":"2024-08-14T12:31:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T16:31:07","slug":"money-or-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/money-or-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen Up! What\u2019s more important, money or the environment?: A guest post by Hugh Holland | Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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This is a Listen Up! guest post by Hugh Holland. Hugh Mackenzie is taking a break from Listen Up! this week<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Hugh Holland<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three weeks ago, our relatives in Houston, Texas, narrowly escaped flooding caused by torrential rains as Las Vegas was having 120\u00b0 F temperatures. Two weeks ago, Toronto experienced its third \u201c100-year\u201d climate event in 10 years. Last week, the beautiful Jasper National Park and the town of Jasper were destroyed by wildfire, and ironically, the Premier of Canada\u2019s most prosperous province, whose source of wealth is arguably a main cause of the fire, who has done nothing but bad-mouth Ottawa, is now begging for financial help to rebuild this iconic area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina are being ravaged again for the umpteenth time by a hurricane and severe flooding. If you lost most of your lifetime assets in any of these events, most would say the environment is the most important. If you were untouched, these events are becoming so common that most of us just yawn and carry on. This is not happening in some country on the other side of the world, although they are seeing similar things. It\u2019s happening right in our own backyard. A recent report said the US is heading for uninsurable climate destruction losses of $1.2 trillion annually. This is not going to end well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By now, it\u2019s becoming clear that we have already passed the point of being able to avoid climate change with all its ramifications, so all we can do now is try to mitigate and adapt. Is that still worth doing, or should we just give up and forget about future generations? What can we do?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It used to be that people were willing to sacrifice a bit when needed to help the general good. Enter Donald Trump with his selfish, divisive rhetoric and his clever use of the Internet and social media to spread misinformation. Now, people expect the government to solve all problems but complain and protest whenever they try. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better long-range planning is required to achieve any sustainable balance between the economy and the environment. But to get our votes, our politicians and the media are obsessed with short-term news, such as this week\u2019s price of gas or last week’s estimate of inflation. We have only ourselves to blame for that. Most politicians try to satisfy the voting public\u2019s demands, but some try to mislead us by telling us what they say our demands should be. Our illustrious leader of the Opposition talks only about taxes and has said nothing of consequence about the environment. He tries to convince us to \u201caxe the carbon tax\u201d even though that is the best tool to get the public\u2019s attention on how we can all help to minimize climate change and make economic progress. That minor temporary sacrifice is refunded in 3 months, and the lowest income people don\u2019t pay much, if any, carbon tax since they don\u2019t buy much oil or gas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right here in Huntsville, developers are replacing nature and trees with pavement, creating potential run-off and flooding problems, all in the name of economic progress. To their credit, the new Lake Tree Residence on Highway 60 planted some small trees that will be a nice asset in a few years.  Are the developers of Forbes Hill or the new plaza on Hanes Road going to plant a single tree or shrub to re-naturalise those areas?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is some good news. The District of Muskoka is considering an energy-from-waste facility to replace the current landfill instead of stripping another 100 acres and filling it with garbage. Energy-from-waste has been successfully practiced in Europe for decades and, more recently, in the regions of Durham and York. My daughter\u2019s friend is an environmental consultant who worked with District Chair Jeff Lehman when he was mayor of Barrie and says Jeff is a very progressive thinker. We are lucky to have him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And last night, we watched Kamala Harris introduce her new running mate, Tim Walz. What a refreshing and hopeful change in US politics that will have a positive effect on the entire world, including Canada. Which Canadian leaders will be best suited to work with them on big-picture planning that balances the economy and the environment?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hugh Holland is a retired engineering and manufacturing executive now living in Huntsville, Ontario.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a Listen Up! guest post by Hugh Holland. Hugh Mackenzie is taking a break from Listen Up! this week. By Hugh Holland Three weeks ago, our relatives in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1904,"featured_media":159083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nListen Up! 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