Climate challenge
I must respond to Try_The_Truth's letter ("Hell or high water," Reply all, November 21). This attitude of throwing one's hands up in the air and saying "oh well, making people care is too hard so I guess we're all done for," is so fucking frustrating. Activists have known for years that many people don't care about the climate crisis, but they don't give up because the stakes are too high. I've met so many people who feel so unsure where to start that they understandably pretend that nothing is happening, because the alternative can be a nightmare for your mental health. But a great way to quell these anxieties is to give back! Join an environmental charity. Organize a beach cleanup. It doesn't have to be anything big, because god knows everyone is busy trying to get by. But if you still refuse to do anything at all because you "don't care," you have nobody to blame but yourself. —SP, Halifax
Flying is a predictable and safe mode of transportation thanks to scientific models. We accept those models' predictions, assuming every time we hop on an airplane that we will arrive at our destination at a particular time. That same science that makes airplanes fly has been used to build models, which predict that in order to have a climate safe for humans, we must reach zero carbon emissions by 2040. Recently 11,000 scientists declared that lack of action on the climate change will lead to climate catastrophe and "untold human suffering." The plane might crash. Our elected leaders declare they accept the IPCC reports and recommendations, following with multiples "buts" that are political calculations. We have the technology to do a rapid switch to a non-fossil fuel economy. We must start here and now. Our survival is at stake. —Fernando Moncayo, Dartmouth
As a resident of Nova Scotia, and concerned citizen of this planet, there is not a single thing more important to me than to hear what binding actions, based on science, this newly elected federal government will take to address the climate emergency. To the leaders of this country, and particularly the Trudeau government, please don't make this a partisan issue. The tired tug-of-war argument that pits the economy against climate action is absurd when the very conditions for life are at stake. —Seth Levinson, Halifax
Rahr's rad writing
Your November 14 arts story "The quiet brilliance of Hannah Moscovitch" has me thinking about the quiet brilliance of reporter
Maggie Rahr. Love this piece. Rahr should get an award for her writing as well.
—Catriona Talbot, Halifax
Correction
We got a couple things wrong in the November 21 arts piece "Dinuk Wijeratne stays wylin'" by Chris Stoodley, about Symphony Nova Scotia veteran Dinuk Wijeratne. The story said Wijeratne was raised in Clayton Park and will soon be returning to Halifax to play with the symphony, but he was actually raised elsewhere in Halifax and will be conducting SNS in January. We apologize for any confusion. caused.
