Sample letters for Bill C3-11

Letter to the editor
Climate Change Calls for Active Citizens

Dear Editor,

In response to Harold Phalen’s letter “Debate Climate, but take action” (August 4), please consider:
This paper reported (July 29) on a Dalhousie study recording a decline of 40% in the population of phytoplankton in the oceans, due to warming and trawl fishing. As they produce half of the oxygen we breathe, and form the basis of the ocean’s food chain, phytoplankton are estimated to be as important to our survival as all land plants on Earth.

Clearly, we cannot rely on millionaires of goodwill to
protect the planet.

We can help pass Bill C311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. It has been passed in the House of Commons. The Senate will vote on it after September. The Act lays out clear dates by which reductions in Greenhouse Gas emissions must be accomplished, with 80% reductions from 1990 levels by 2050. It is based on research by the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy, and by the UN. It will put backbone and money behind addressing the many real issues (melting ice and permafrost, warming oceans, coastal erosion…) facing humanity and the planet. It is up to us! Write to Senators. (No postage required.) Call 1-800-267-7362, and ask to be connected to the office of any Senator.

Join the NB Climate Change hub (http://nbhub.org/) and learn more about what is being done in NB to address the impacts of climate change on our communities.

We may not all have millions, but active citizenship is priceless.

John Doe

Johnville, NB

Letter to senator
Mail may be sent postage-free to any Senator at:


Senator’s Name
The Senate of Canada,
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0A4

Dear Senator W. David Angus,

I am writing to encourage you to support Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. Climate change poses both challenges and opportunities to the peoples, ecosystems, and governments of the world, and I look forward to seeing Canada take a proactive approach to addressing both the causes and the consequences of our changing climate.


I understand that Quebec faces a number of challenges related to climate change, including erosion and sea level rise in the maritime region, and increased evaporation and subsequently, conflicts, between water supply users in the South. Water levels in the St. Lawrence are expected to drop. The Comite de concertation navigation du Plan d’action Saint-Laurent estimates increasing costs to maintain current shipping. They estimate that restructuring maritime transport and infrastructure will cost between $240 million and $1 billion, and that dredging and installation of regulatory structures in the river would come with economic, as well as significant environmental, costs. (From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007, Natural Resources Canada.)
Quebec has already faced costs associated with extreme weather events, including several billion dollars associated with the ice storm of 1998. Although I do not know the specific costs associated with the landslides that occurred in your region of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean in 1996, I understand that they caused widespread damage. Due to the clay soils of the region, and to the increasing pressure of the human population, landslides are likely to continue to occur. The frequency of extreme weather events is projected to increase.
If Bill C-311 is passed, the Canadian government will need to implement strategies to limit greenhouse gas emissions, as part of a global effort to keep the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to below 350 parts per million.* Quebec, as a producer of power that doesn’t require burning of mass amounts of fossil fuels, will see incentives to develop these even further. You can be a leader in demonstrating cutting-edge hydro development that lessens the negative impacts of such projects on the peoples, cultures, and environments throughout your province. As well, there are numerous other industrial and agricultural opportunities in the future economy that are open for Quebec’s innovation.

*Scientists consider this the threshold beyond which feedback mechanisms in the natural environment (such as the melting of permafrost, which is already damaging infrastructure in Northern Quebec and elsewhere), are projected to set off even more dramatic and potentially dangerous climate change (such as even higher rates of sea level rise, changes in weather patterns that will place even more pressure on global water and food security, etc.).
We in Canada have our own challenges and opportunities to consider, as well as those faced by the rest of the world. Instability in countries such as Bangladesh, where sea level rise is projected to have catastrophic impacts on human settlements, will cause widespread suffering. It will also affect the entire human community, including all Canadians.
Thank you for doing your part to develop Canada’s ingenious, enterprising, and compassionate approach to Climate Change. Please pass Bill C-311.
All the best,
Jane Doe
Johnville, NB


E-mail to Senator:
Dear Senator,


The climate crisis represents the most urgent challenge of our time. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases is essential to avoid catastrophic changes in our climate that threaten billions of people with drought, famine, extreme weather events and rising sea levels. By acting decisively to reduce its emissions, Canada can also be a leader in energy conservation and clean, renewable energy.

I am asking all Parliamentarians to join together to ensure that Bill C-311 (The Climate Change Accountability Act) becomes law. Bill C-311, which was passed by the majority of elected officials on May 5th, will ensure that Canada follows the best scientific analysis of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by setting science-based targets to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and by requiring effective accountability measures to meet those targets.

Passing this crucial legislation will send a clear message to the world community: Canada is once again prepared to show leadership in tackling climate change. We hope you will take action now to ensure that Canada plays a leading role in stopping dangerous climate change and making the global transition to a low-carbon economy.

Canada once demonstrated its leadership on this issue during Prime Minister Mulroney’s time in office when Canada became the first industrialized country to ratify the climate change convention agreed to at the UN Conference on the Environment.

In a speech when Corporate Knights honoured him as ‘Greenest PM in Canadian History’, Brian Mulroney stated: “The most compelling environmental challenge facing the world today is global warming. In Toronto in 1988, we hosted the first international scientific conference on climate change. The scientists gathered there told us in clear, unambiguous language the nature of the challenge we were facing. In their consensus statement, they concluded: "Humanity is conducting an unintended, uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment, whose ultimate consequences are second only to global nuclear war." For his full speech, visit: http://www.corporateknights.ca/web-exclusives/76-speeches/298-brian-mulroney-greenest-pm.html


Recently Canadian and American scientists have stated unequivocally that anthropogenic climate change is supported by the science and that action is required: Open Letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper (letter signed by 800 leading Canadians scientists); and Climate Change and the Integrity of Science (letter signed by members of the National Academy of Sciences).


Please ensure that Bill C-311 becomes law.

Sincerely,



[Your name and address]


Senator Email Addresses




andrer@sen.parl.gc.ca

anguswd@sen.parl.gc.ca

bakerg@sen.parl.gc.ca

gautht@sen.parl.gc.ca

boisvp@sen.parl.gc.ca

brazep@sen.parl.gc.ca

brownb@sen.parl.gc.ca

callbc@sen.parl.gc.ca

campbel@sen.parl.gc.ca

carigc@sen.parl.gc.ca

carsts@sen.parl.gc.ca

champa@sen.parl.gc.ca

chapum@sen.parl.gc.ca

cochre@sen.parl.gc.ca

comeag@sen.parl.gc.ca

coolsa@sen.parl.gc.ca

cordyj@sen.parl.gc.ca

cowanj@sen.parl.gc.ca

dallar@sen.parl.gc.ca

dawsod@sen.parl.gc.ca

dayja@sen.parl.gc.ca

debanp@sen.parl.gc.ca

tessil@sen.parl.gc.ca

dininc@sen.parl.gc.ca

pdowne@sen.parl.gc.ca

mikeduffy@sen.parl.gc.ca

dyckli@sen.parl.gc.ca

eatonn@sen.parl.gc.ca

egglea@sen.parl.gc.ca

fairbj@sen.parl.gc.ca

finled@sen.parl.gc.ca

fortis@sen.parl.gc.ca

foxf@sen.parl.gc.ca

frasej@sen.parl.gc.ca

fruml@sen.parl.gc.ca

fureyg@sen.parl.gc.ca

greens@sen.parl.gc.ca

harbm@sen.parl.gc.ca

hervic@sen.parl.gc.ca

lacomd@sen.parl.gc.ca

hublee@sen.parl.gc.ca

jaffem@sen.parl.gc.ca

johnsj@sen.parl.gc.ca

joyals@sen.parl.gc.ca

kennyco@sen.parl.gc.ca

kinsen@sen.parl.gc.ca

kochhv@sen.parl.gc.ca

langd@sen.parl.gc.ca

charrf@sen.parl.gc.ca

lavigr@sen.parl.gc.ca

lebrem@sen.parl.gc.ca

losier@sen.parl.gc.ca

smithc@sen.parl.gc.ca

mahovf@sen.parl.gc.ca

mannif@sen.parl.gc.ca

marshe@sen.parl.gc.ca

martin@sen.parl.gc.ca

massip@sen.parl.gc.ca

mccoye@sen.parl.gc.ca

meighen@sen.parl.gc.ca

mercet@sen.parl.gc.ca

merchp@sen.parl.gc.ca

mitchg@sen.parl.gc.ca

mocklp@sen.parl.gc.ca

moorew@sen.parl.gc.ca

munsoj@sen.parl.gc.ca

murral@sen.parl.gc.ca

mcgeed@sen.parl.gc.ca

neufer@sen.parl.gc.ca

nolinp@sen.parl.gc.ca

ogilvk@sen.parl.gc.ca

olived@sen.parl.gc.ca

patted@sen.parl.gc.ca

pepinl@sen.parl.gc.ca

russem@sen.parl.gc.ca

lachah@sen.parl.gc.ca

plettd@sen.parl.gc.ca

poirir@sen.parl.gc.ca

poulim@sen.parl.gc.ca

poyv@sen.parl.gc.ca

rainen@sen.parl.gc.ca

ringup@sen.parl.gc.ca

rivarm@sen.parl.gc.ca

jcrivest@sen.parl.gc.ca

rompkw@sen.parl.gc.ca

runcib@sen.parl.gc.ca

kfl@sen.parl.gc.ca

seidmj@sen.parl.gc.ca

sibnic@sen.parl.gc.ca

smithd@sen.parl.gc.ca

stgerg@sen.parl.gc.ca

stewac@sen.parl.gc.ca

stollp@sen.parl.gc.ca

stratt@sen.parl.gc.ca

tardic@sen.parl.gc.ca

wallaj@sen.parl.gc.ca

wallinp@sen.parl.gc.ca

wattc@sen.parl.gc.ca

zimmer@sen.parl.gc.ca



The following do not have email addresses posted:



Fred Dickson (NS) - 1-800-267-7362

Irving Gerstein (ON) - 1-800-267-7362

Michael MacDonald (NS) - 1-800-267-7362

Fernand Robichaud (NB) - 1-800-267-7362