Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

TALKING CLIMATE CHANGE – Kalia Graham, seated at left at the desk seen at the right of the photo, and Sophie Molgat, beside Graham, make a presentation to city council Monday during the discussion of the climate change motion.

Council formally declares a climate emergency

Whitehorse city council declared a climate change emergency at its meeting Monday night, as well over 100 observers of all ages packed the public gallery.

By Chuck Tobin on September 24, 2019

Whitehorsea city council declared a climate change emergency at its meeting Monday night, as well over 100 observers of all ages packed the public gallery.

The split vote came after 11 delegates appeared before council, including young teenagers, parents and seniors.

Their voices were different but the message was the same: more needs to be done now to battle climate change.

Following the vote in favour of the declaration, Mayor Dan Curtis said the words.

“I don’t know if I can say this but I’m going to say it anyway. I declare a climate change emergency in the City of Whitehorse.”

The declaration drew lengthy applause from the gallery.

Of the six members of council present, Coun. Samson Hartland was the only one to vote against the motion. He indicated he was uncomfortable declaring an emergency when he wasn’t sure what the financial implications would be for the city.

Coun. Laura Cabott was absent.

Council was faced with two motions put forward in June by councillors Steve Roddick and Jocelyn Curteanu, but Curteanu withdrew her motion before the debate ensued Monday night.

As well, Roddick put forward substantial amendments to his motion.

Roddick told his colleagues and the audience he did not have the support from the majority of council for his original motion.

So, in the interest of getting an agreement on the emergency declaration, he was proposing the amendments, he said.

He had provided a copy of the proposed changes to his colleagues last Friday, for their consideration over the weekend.

The amendments were less onerous on the city and city administration than those contained in his original motion.

In the original motion, for instance, Roddick was asking administration to build a “carbon budget” into the city’s capital budget indicating the carbon emissions for every project, beginning in 2020. It called for the establishment of a climate change adaptation task force.

In a report to council last week, administration indicated fulfilling the requirements of the two proposed motions would be costly and time-consuming, and could possibly require additional staff.

It may require the re-alignment of existing staff time, resulting in a reduction of services in other areas, said the report.

Roddick’s amended motion directs administration to complete two self-assessment initiatives related to climate change that are provided by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities: The Climate Adaptation Maturity Scale; and the Municipal GHG Emissions Reduction Maturity Scale.

The motion says “That administration be directed to review the results of these assessments, review our current mitigation and adaptation priorities and targets, and report back to council with a range of options for enhancing our adaptation and mitigation efforts before the next strategic plan update.”

Roddick thanked his fellow council members for their willingness to pass the motion.

He suggested using the self-assessments will allow Whitehorse to identify gaps in its fight against climate change.

Roddick, the other councillors and the mayor all noted how the city has already undertaken substantial efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and promote a greener lifestyle to combat climate change.

Council chambers was full long before the meeting began at 5:30 p.m., with standing room only. Even then it was tight, as some stood outside the room in the hall.

Many of the youth had messages written on their T-shirts.

“There is no planet B,” read one message.

Each of the 11 delegates who addressed council made impassioned pleas to declare an emergency, to commit to do more in the battle against climate change.

Emma Marnik, a 17-year-old Grade 12 student, told council she is proud to be a Yukoner, is proud of the vast wilderness the territory has to offer.

But the territory, once a leader in the move toward renewable energy with its foray into wind energy and its reliance on hydro, has now fallen behind the rest of the country, and that needs to be changed, she said.

Marnik told council the Yukon has embraced liquefied natural gas as a new source of energy while the territory is already seeing, experiencing the impact of climate change here.

The glaciers in Kluane National Park are undergoing huge change; are melting away before our eyes, she suggested.

Marnik said she and her peers are afraid of what the future holds, are afraid they might not want to bring a child into this world.

“We are not acting as though our house is burning and we are watching the flames right in front of us,” she told council on the same day 16-year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden lambasted international leaders at the UN Climate Change Summit in New York.

“We need to act and we need to act now,” 13-year-old Kalia Graham told council.

Federal NDP election candidate Justin Lemphers said he’s worried about the future for his children and his grandchildren some day.

“I want them to know I fought for their future,” he said. “We are here because we want our leaders to act.”

Some say they’d never seen the Yukon River as low as it was last spring, he told council.

During his campaign work, Lemphers said, the concern over climate change comes up consistently.

“Declaring a climate emergency is the right choice,” he said.

Brook Land-Murphy told council the motion on declaring a climate emergency will be the most important motion they will vote on during their tenures as councillors and mayor.

“This is your chance to be on the right side of history,” she said.

Comments (60)

Up 0 Down 0

S. Martee on Oct 1, 2019 at 5:22 pm

Dear Mar-tan - The CoW does not have the authority to ban the selling of plastic water bottles in the Yukon. This would require the Yukon Government to take action.

Up 3 Down 0

I. Schitzengiggles on Sep 30, 2019 at 11:33 pm

There is no real emergency. But now that we have said there is...

We can implement a nonsense regulatory regime designed to tackle this non-existent problem so that we can then bestow ourselves with the accolades and awards we need: So that we may feel just and right; So that we can rightfully assert the narrative that I/we saved people-kind; I am heroic!

Climate mongers manipulate emotion to facilitate the illusion of instantiation. Fascistic ideologies manipulate emotion to attract followers who are otherwise incapable of thinking on their own

No Emergency:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVBH-HY5Ow&feature=youtu.be

Up 2 Down 1

martin on Sep 30, 2019 at 5:17 pm

Hypocrites! Why CoW doesn't ban plastic water bottles from selling in the Yukon? Some simple, but these hypocrites can't see it.
Also; following CBC's MarketPlace Investigation ....
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/marketplace-recycling-trackers-b-c-blue-box-1.5299176
Is CoW going to audit where goes our plastic?. I hope they do even if it means getting out of the desk.

Up 0 Down 4

Wan Kenobi on Sep 30, 2019 at 4:00 pm

@ Obi

Why are you so threatened by young woman who is an activist? Is your life complete void of anything that you spend hours lashing out at her?
I suspect she will get a Nobel Peace Prize and have a full rich life while you...well, you just whine from the sidelines. You really should be embarrassed.

Up 30 Down 1

Yukoner on Sep 30, 2019 at 2:51 pm

Before the City goes around finger pointing and pontificating how we should live, maybe they could clean their own house. Is it really necessary for every employee with a City truck to drive to a coffee shop twice a day (and lunch too)? Honestly, how many of us in the private sector (real world) get to take a business owned vehicle to get coffee multiple times per day?

I'm so gosh darned tired of the hypocritical, arrogant, OVERPAID, and entitled municipal staff. In an 8 or 10 hour work day, it would be surprising if 4 of those were spent actually working. Try to get anything done at the City on a Monday or Friday when A LOT of people are "sick". Everyone who knows a City worker knows it. Time for an outside audit. I bet at least 1/3 of current City employees could be cut and still maintain the level of "service".

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sloth-in-the-city-planning-department-inspectors-loiter-at-tims-go-shopping-probe-reveals-508135822.html

Up 26 Down 2

Obi! on Sep 30, 2019 at 10:24 am

The climate sucks, now it's cold and raining, liberals lie, eco warriors waste their time chasing rainbows, today's Canadian education system has poisoned our children against energy, now Greta wants us to live in caves and eat grass.
But more importantly, it's almost Halloween. I predict a wave of Blackface Aladdin costumes to be sweeping our nation. We do live in interesting times.

Up 24 Down 2

Obi ! on Sep 30, 2019 at 10:14 am

"The biggest threat for climate kids, is not the climate...…. it's the debt."
And it's your generation, and the next that will have to pay for it...
Good luck with that!

Up 28 Down 3

Harry K. on Sep 29, 2019 at 2:42 am

While you geniuses are declaring climate crisises, what happened to the emergency firebreak swath around the town?

Up 22 Down 3

drum on Sep 28, 2019 at 7:06 pm

We in the North West American continent have no influence with regard to the biggest criminals. China, India, Pakistan, Korea, South America, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Egypt ,Turkey, etc. They do not want to save the planet - they only care about having Sharia law take over the planet. Stoneings, beheadings and women never having a say in anything.

Up 17 Down 2

Wilf Carter on Sep 28, 2019 at 1:43 pm

So I hear city is going to have a dog teams transit service like 1902

Up 41 Down 4

Obi on Sep 28, 2019 at 11:42 am

After being scolded by Greta, I was grateful our country wasn’t run by an angry little girl but then I realized we are!

Up 21 Down 0

Groucho d'North on Sep 28, 2019 at 9:21 am

"A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic." George Bernard Shaw

Up 22 Down 3

Michael Miller on Sep 27, 2019 at 9:56 pm

Climate Emergency in Whitehorse!

The first priority of council will be to establish single use trails for skidoos and ATVs to ensure residents can easily commute to the downtown core from all areas thus getting more cars and trucks off the road. This is the top priority of the city Climate Emergency Action Plan and it will be costly but is deemed necessary.

There will be separate parking facilities for these vehicles established throughout the downtown core.
Council will establish other top priorities in 2022 or 2023.

Up 32 Down 2

When you're a joke on Sep 27, 2019 at 5:07 pm

Thankfully we're not hosting the AWG which involves a huge influx of people and consumption. Thurnberg said don't use planes!

Up 22 Down 3

North_of_60 on Sep 27, 2019 at 5:01 pm

People who do illegal, potentially dangerous things can use the “climate emergency” as a legal defense. Skeptics and scientists might rub their hands with glee, waiting for the climate emergency to be vaporised by any half decent prosecuting lawyer. But that won’t happen — the alleged law breakers don’t have to prove there is a climate emergency, they just have to prove that a reasonable person would think there is. So when East Widgiemooltha declares a “mergency”, that is enough.

So when a local council succumbs to fashion whims or gets heckled into declaring an emergency it’s effectively encouraging vandals, tyrants, and paranoid eco-terrorists.
Activists are using the climate emergency as a new legal defence to justify law-breaking. A declaration of a fake emergency is just like yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre

http://joannenova.com.au/2019/09/the-unseen-danger-of-declaring-fake-climate-emergencies/

Up 25 Down 7

So we're raising the speed limits? on Sep 27, 2019 at 2:49 pm

Raising speed limits reduces time vehicles are on the road and fuel consumption (vehicles typically are more efficient at higher rates of speed up to 115km/h). Alaska Highway could go to 115km/h and downtown could raise to 65 km/h. Simple and easy and reduces C02. And the answer is ...

Up 36 Down 6

I have one! on Sep 27, 2019 at 12:54 pm

Why don't all of the Public sector employees take wage reductions so they are just meeting the thresh hold for providing the necessities of life?

As the gov is the largest employer that also, probably, means that the gov consumes the most. If the gov employees have no money to spend except for the basics then no more buying luxuries that contribute to this climate emergency!
$5000.00 mtn bikes, new vehicles, skis, 500 winter jackets, 100 toques, 500 purses, 100 shoes, vacations, hunting trips, etc etc
(this is a list from what I see in the office)

Who is on board!

Up 51 Down 11

Obi on Sep 27, 2019 at 11:21 am

Dear Greta;
I tell you what, until you pay taxes, get a job and keep it, raise a family, and pay off a mortgage, please don't pontificate to me how I should live my life.
Please stay in school, enjoy your youth, and then let us know what you think when you are wearing real adult clothes.

Up 48 Down 3

So all of the other matters are taken care of? on Sep 27, 2019 at 11:04 am

City of Whitehorse consolidated building over budget.
Alpine Aviation losing Dock
City Of Whitehorse forces out Trans North.
City Of Whitehorse fires 3 managers and still doesn't give reasons.
City of Whitehorse fails to maintain roads, signage, or basic infrastructure.
City Of Whitehorse "apparently" aware of structural defects in the construction of Whistle Bend old folks home.
City of Whitehorse takes wage increases.
City of Whitehorse crashes transit bus
City Of Whitehorse buys new buses.
City of Whitehorse fails to address alcohol concerns on Alexander (That's YG!)
Mayor and Council do not push YG to address systemic issues of racial prejudice and suggestions from the Missing/Murdered inquiry
Mayor and Council decide to change out crosswalks that no longer adhere to proper road markings and leads to liability issues for the City (go talk to your insurance)
Taxes increase

WAIT: We're declaring an emergency
Thanks for the red herring. Mind doing your jobs?

Up 33 Down 2

Mr M on Sep 27, 2019 at 7:45 am

Once again nothing will be done. All talk and hey let's do a study on that. Waste of money. Try turning off some of the street lights and lights at government and city buildings and parking lots. Or put them on timers. With all those bright white off road lights on most vehicles why do we have so many street lights on all the time? Teach people in Government Offices and other offices around town to turn the damn lights off at night. They do it in their own homes to save on their own power bills.

Up 23 Down 3

What the... on Sep 26, 2019 at 8:50 pm

Funny that Wilf is all of a sudden comparatively rational in this thread.

Up 36 Down 2

Greta Loonberg on Sep 26, 2019 at 7:04 pm

I have no idea how we have gotten to this point. The inmates are running the asylum

Up 28 Down 1

Juniper Jackson on Sep 26, 2019 at 6:30 pm

John: Last night I read the entire package, letter and attachments sent to the Un...It is a salient point that many of the scientists felt their reports and objectives have been misrepresented and 'twisted' by various governments.

Catherine McKenna deliberately presented a false climate picture by deleting
100 years of statistics. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/19/goldstein-feds-scrapped-100-years-of-data-on-climate-change/ https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-trudeaus-half-baked-climate-plan-is-a-hoax

https://clintel.nl/prominent-scientists-warn-un-secretary-general-guterres/
https://www.europereloaded.com/500-climate-scientists-write-to-un-there-is-no-climate-emergency/
http://europeanpost.co/500-scientists-dismiss-greta-thunberg-there-is-no-climate-emergency/

This is just interesting: I often refer to Al Gore, as Vice President, he had less than $100K in the bank when he produced 'An Inconvenient Truth'..I came across this little tidbit as well when I was trying to time line his income structure..he's worth $350 million and virtually does nothing but make predictions..not ONE of which has happened.
https://www.climatedepot.com/2019/08/17/gores-quest-to-become-a-fake-meat-billionaire-lobbies-for-climate-policies-that-limit-meat-while-his-firm-invests-200-million-in-meat-substitutes/
and there it is folks.. Al Gore is heavily invested in non meat products. The cows are killing the environment, and cattle products, meat, milk, cheese, butter are bringing the climate out of sync, and we're all going to die in 2030, can all be traced back to 2017 when Gore and some friends started non meat companies. Hysteria that..I'm still going to drink milk, eat a cheese burger..
Trudeau guards current information about his investments like it's a gold bank, I'm still looking to trace a connection on his eat fake beef program and his investment income.. but Morneau IS in the food industry, McCain's is the largest, but there's Loblaws in there.. so one could be fairly certain he is in the non meat arena with the rest of the kazillion aires.. actually McCains is only worth 7 billion and his wife holds most of it.. so stop eating red meat or just send Morneau a little money now and again..
Please note to the vegans, I didn't say eat the whole cow.. but they can't force people to eat a vegan diet using climate change... OMG, in context, that's really funny.

Up 35 Down 3

Charlie's Aunt on Sep 26, 2019 at 4:15 pm

I only voted for two of these Councillors and one just shot all ten of his toes from his feet. Agree with most other posters; talk & sensationalism is cheap, but where's the action plan? Talk about 'don't do as I do, just do as I say.' Let's see some 'follow the leader' from these clowns; turn off all the sparkles around town for a start. Christmas is one thing, but do we need to look pretty all winter? Maybe they could fill up the bike racks outside City Hall for their meetings, instead of blowing fumes.

Up 40 Down 5

Obi on Sep 26, 2019 at 12:47 pm

To: Mayor and city council who voted for climate change emergency.
Hypocrisy is a natural human trait!
As a die hard climate change activist are you embracing the life you are choosing? Are you reducing your carbon footprint? Are you living in a smaller home?, driving an electric car? taking public transit? turning down the heat? turning up the air conditioning? no longer eating meat? stopped using single use plastics? are you willing to buy carbon offsets, when you want to be a carbon sinner? are you cheating on your taxes? are you willing to pay even more taxes even if it reduces your standard of living? Are you willing to accept that your own productivity, prosperity, and the privileges that come from good work ethic, may be offensive to some elements of society? Are you willing to walk the walk and talk the talk of Liberal virtuosity?
Maybe you are, but if you are not fully willing to submit to all those Liberal initiatives and more, then I am afraid you may just be more typical hypocrites.

Up 58 Down 7

Yukoner79 on Sep 26, 2019 at 11:28 am

Thank you, Samson, for demonstrating yet another reason I voted for you. Dan Boyd - you disappoint this round. I expect it from the rest. Please stop this hypocrisy and hysteria. Stop teaching our children that they should be scared for their futures. Start making concrete changes that do not involve invoking panic and raising taxes.

Up 10 Down 31

stormtrooper on Sep 26, 2019 at 8:40 am

Climate change is global, not local. We have to do what we can and prepare for the ultimate catastrophe when the global economy reverts to chaos. "This is the law of the Yukon that only the strong shall thrive, that surely the weak must perish and only the fit survive." Every individual must now do some very serious soul searching.

Up 7 Down 47

Apex Predator on Sep 26, 2019 at 7:57 am

Kinda have to ask yourself what the final product of the various sides would be.
Climate change awareness advocates seem to essentially want a healthy and sustainable environment where humanity as a whole can thrive.

I have a hard time seeing the down side. Unless you got tons of money and power, could give a sh*t about humanity on the whole and are threatened by what building a better place for all represents, equality. I could for sure see some downsides from that perspective.

Half the nasty ass views here seem to be perfectly happy with the status quo of bony fingers and stuffed suits.

I applaud COW for their pro active stance.

Up 54 Down 3

Stephen on Sep 25, 2019 at 6:06 pm

More Hypocrites!

Whistler BC mayor, Jack Crompton, and Whitehorse's mayor, Dan Curtis, now have something in common, they are both living in cities heavily relying upon fossil fuel consuming tourists to uphold their economies. Tourism is one of the three main providers that keep the lights on in Yukon.

Again the Progressives have broaden the definition of a word that we all thought we understood. Emergency: an event that requires prompt action, a crisis.

The Whitehorse city council has declared a Climate Emergency which allows them to create a climate change adaptation task force, but no serious action is planned. Virtual signaling at it's finest.

Will they ban the ATVs and snowmobiles that race through the city as unnecessary recreation.
Will they stop hosting and attending sporting events and cultural exchanges which requires the majority of participants to fly into Whitehorse or fly to another Northern community?
Will they pressure Holland America to stop bringing massive cruise ships into the Skagway Alaska port, where thousands of tourists a day swarm into Whitehorse and Dawson City by motor coach?
Will they stop promoting Whitehorse, especially to the Japanese, as a place to fly into to observe the Northern Lights?
Will they ban tourists in large motor homes and 6 wheel Man trucks from leaving the highway and accessing Whitehorse?
Will they quit ordering new phones and laptops made of plastic? Will they all get metal straws?

Go big or go home and cancel the emergency!
Obviously, I am not the only Yukoner that feels embarrassed by the city council decision judging by the comments here.

Up 31 Down 3

john on Sep 25, 2019 at 4:42 pm

More than 500 scientists and professionals in climate and related fields have sent a “European Climate Declaration” to the Secretary-General of the United Nations asking for a long-overdue, high-level, open debate on climate change.
“There is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent,” they declared. “However, CO2-mitigation measures are as damaging as they are costly. For instance, wind turbines kill birds and bats, and palm-oil plantations destroy the biodiversity of the rainforests.”
“There is no climate emergency. Therefore, there is no cause for panic and alarm,” they note. “We strongly oppose the harmful and unrealistic net-zero CO2 policy proposed for 2050.”

Up 37 Down 10

Wilf Carter on Sep 25, 2019 at 4:19 pm

There was not a climate change EMG declared at the meeting but to look at potential effects changing climate might have on our future city infrastructure and it would be dealt with during strategic planning process. You can't declare something without evidence there is going to be damage caused by anything like what's happening in US and NS.
City has no data in evidence or fact to call a climate change EMG. So don't get your hopes up people because we do not understand how our climate changes.
It is not carbon for sure because we don't have enough carbon in the Yukon to feed our trees and plant life.
Don't be part of movement that is false in nature and fact.
This is the truth and fact based.

Up 57 Down 4

Obi on Sep 25, 2019 at 4:04 pm

Food for thought!
1. Whitehorse has the cleanest air of any capital city in the world.

2. "South Africa, India, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan and China, all signatories to the Paris climate accord, are building a combined 1,800 new coal-fired power plants. Coal plants emit twice as much CO2 as natural gas plants.
Meanwhile, international environmental groups campaign against sending Canadian LNG to those countries. And here in Canada, the Trudeau Liberals have just introduced a tax specifically designed to discourage the building of new cleaner-burning gas -fired power plants as they continue to pursue the fantasy that wind and solar will keep the lights on. Good luck with that. After hundreds of billions of dollars invested, wind solar contribute just two percent of global energy supply. And that's only when the wind is blowing, and the sun is shining."
As Napoleon once said, "In Politics, stupidity is not a handicap."

Up 62 Down 3

Anonymous on Sep 25, 2019 at 3:58 pm

I can't wait to move outside of city limits, where there isn't a climate change emergency.

Up 11 Down 23

123go on Sep 25, 2019 at 1:09 pm

Responding to "Pathetic"...

You do know that the reason we don't hear so much about acid rain and ozone depletion is because they are both positive stories of humans taking environmental issues seriously, right?
In the case of acid rain, sulfur emissions from power plants were reduced through a highly successful cap-and-trade system https://www.edf.org/approach/markets/acid-rain
Ozone depletion was addressed, in part by a multilateral agreement, the Montreal Protocol which decreased and phased out ozone depleting substances.
https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/corporate/international-affairs/partnerships-organizations/ozone-layer-depletion-montreal-convention.html
It is not a surprise we have been looking to cap-and-trade programs and multilateral agreements to address carbon emissions, because they are proven to work.

Up 14 Down 52

brian on Sep 25, 2019 at 11:58 am

The real truth is none of us know why or how the climate is changing but it is. Armchair experts here who claim it is natural don't know any more than the ones who are concerned. They're perfectly happy with their head buried in the sand. Nothing wrong with asking questions. After all the youth are going to have to deal with the future climate. Why not listen to the concerns they have?

Up 55 Down 7

StickandRawdciked at the same time on Sep 25, 2019 at 11:39 am

If you have the lights on and you can breathe you're not in a state of emergency.
Wait until something serious happens and you try to declare an emergency, much like the war on drugs, "oh we've been in one since 2019."

Snowflakes

Up 46 Down 5

Confusion: on Sep 25, 2019 at 11:00 am

Heated room with screens and a plethora of electronics.

hypocrite - look it up!

Up 51 Down 7

Hmm.. strange on Sep 25, 2019 at 10:51 am

Are there laws against causing panic and hysteria? It's strange that the one lawyer, Cabbot, and the mayor acted outside of norm.

One, Cabbot didn't show up.
Two, Dan included the phrase,“I don’t know if I can say this but I’m going to say it anyway. I declare a climate change emergency in the City of Whitehorse.”

Samson voted against this.
But Courteanu, Roddick, Stick, and Boyd would all be guilty of inducing panic/hysteria with no evidence to support it.

There is more than enough compelling evidence that shows humans have little effect on global carbon creation or global warming. I hope the City is held accountable for selling snake oil to the public. I find them "declaring a climate emergency," means that people should act now.

On 911 there was a state of emergency. Downtown was evacuated and schools. When you take the meaning out of words you begin to destroy their value. "Two suspected murderers on the loose, Emergency!" "The earth is warming as it has been since the last ice age, Emergency!"

You could jump in front of cars, barricade buildings, stop airplanes from landing, and a host of things; all with the defence, "I did it because of the state of emergency."

Up 57 Down 7

Pathetic on Sep 25, 2019 at 9:34 am

Pathetic b.s. fear mongering. This is what happens when you leave loony left indoctrination unchecked in our school and universities.

1970's - The new ice age
1980's - Acid Rain
1990's - Ozone Depletion
2000's - Global Warming

It is now called "climate change" because global warming is a sham. Of course if you question them, you are called an uneducated climate change denier. So sad.

Up 42 Down 5

Mr M on Sep 25, 2019 at 7:34 am

Have been hearing about climate change for over 40 years. Not much has changed other than the climate. Government and Municipal leaders only care when there is an election coming up. Oh yeah this is an election year. Lets see what changes if anything. Maybe the governments will change. We can only hope.

Up 32 Down 4

Josey Wales on Sep 25, 2019 at 7:22 am

Gee...gotta say given the absolute lunacy that IS now news?
A sincere public proclamation...

The poor moderator having to sift through the pile, pull the nonsense out...
and try to keep a coherent thread up?

Quite a feat in my hillbilly opinion.
Perhaps we can take a moment to thank the moderator for what I sense...
Is an epic amount of patience and despite the optics occasionally, a task done very well.

Star moderator, thank you for what you do, and yes how you do it.
Stated prior, few media have comment threads as our local Star.

Up 56 Down 4

Jack on Sep 25, 2019 at 12:05 am

This can mean only one thing..... higher property taxes for the sake of climate change.

Up 9 Down 65

Michael Miller on Sep 24, 2019 at 10:23 pm

Thank you councillors Steve Roddick.
Please Keep it up and try to change the culture of both council and city administration . Please represent the people who have sincere concerns.

Up 47 Down 4

Al on Sep 24, 2019 at 10:12 pm

Good grief !

Up 41 Down 7

North_of_60 on Sep 24, 2019 at 9:38 pm

A Message for Children About Climate Change from Dilbert [Scott Adams]
Dear Children,
I’m sorry adults have frightened you about climate change and how it might affect your future. You might be less afraid if you knew some facts that adults intentionally do not explain to you. I’ll tell you here.
https://www.scottadamssays.com/2019/09/23/a-message-for-children-about-climate-change

Up 45 Down 3

Get on with the job on Sep 24, 2019 at 7:48 pm

Well there you go, we now have an emergency. What exactly does that mean as far as the functioning of our city? Well I for one don’t think anyone voting for this declaration has any idea of what happens next, or what costs will be attributed to it. I’ve seen our administration in action, so rest assured that they haven’t a clue either. But hey, it makes a whole pile of people happy, some who don’t heat their homes, pay for vehicles, gas, electricity, taxes, etc.
I am glad to see youth invested in our transition to a green new world. But until you are faced with the costs that not everyone can afford, it’s much easier to demand some sort of change. But surely some have to realize that a city council cannot stop or reduce climate change. Old Crow declared a climate emergency, but that has more to do with mining the Feds for more green projects. Maybe now Council and Steve Roddick can get back to doing the job which we elected them for. Running the City.

Up 41 Down 8

Long duck dong on Sep 24, 2019 at 5:47 pm

Carbon based climate change is a lie. It's the sun baby, always has been. Always will be.

Up 52 Down 5

Let’s just see.. on Sep 24, 2019 at 5:45 pm

We better not see another council member (except Hartland) or mayor on a plane or driving a car again. If they do, they’re hypocrites. They should also give up all their gadgets. Lead by example.

Up 44 Down 9

Juniper Jackson on Sep 24, 2019 at 5:39 pm

Dr. Jay Lehr is Senior Policy Advisor with the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) and former Science Director of The Heartland Institute, in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Tom Harris is Executive Director of ICSC and a policy advisor to Heartland.
"To the great frustration of climate alarmists, the real-world instrumental record clearly shows that, not only is no climate emergency underway, but today’s climate is actually quite stable. Aside from the drive for world socialism, the climate scare is based on only one thing:". and there it is folks.. world socialism. The UN at its finest.. get out your wallets.. Al Gore, is worth only 350 million dollars..not bad for making predictions to scare people out of their money.. and not a single prediction came about either. 2015 the Maldive Islands were supposed to be gone..but.. there they are, just islanding away..
Give up those cell phones right away..I don't have one, but I do have a wheelchair that I'm rather fond of.. In fact, we should be prepared to give up every single item we have, because somehow it's all related to oil and gas.. best advice ever..follow the money..

A couple of years ago, it was wood..the ozone was going to kill us all because we cut down tree's, get rid of paper, for god's sake don't make aspirin.. tree's need their bark..it was a huge scare.. people went out in the morning to look at the sky and see if the hole was bigger, the ozone layer thinner.

I still think we should take care of our world and keep it clean but causing a mass anxiety bordering on hysteria..and doubling your taxes, open borders ..not the way to do it.. When I see an elite group, limited access I might add, banking millions, our own PM spouting off while using up a $14,000 an hour fuel hungry jet.. pocketing millions on his Pay for Access..I'm supposed to eat pretend meat while he spends $8,000 a month of my tax money, on gourmet foods, he gets steak? I get tofu? My mind goes... hmmmm.. why am I the one making sacrifices while David Suzuki banks 30 million.. how do I get into that club?

I bought into the ozone scare..it was the thing to do, 50-60 years ago..it turned out later that a volcano "small particles in the air from the Calbuco volcano eruption were mostly at fault caused a big hole over Antarctica.. The hole has been healing up ever since..my tree's are fine and healthy.. Just a note.. China, North Korea, Venezuela.. all socialist countries..

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jc on Sep 24, 2019 at 5:24 pm

"There is no plan B" Is there or was there ever a plan A? And these adults using children to do their front line work. That's sick. Everything in this article talks about an emergency, but not one mention of a fix. I know what that means. Taxes quietly implemented over time.

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jc on Sep 24, 2019 at 5:16 pm

And just what is Curtis going to do about this declaration? Call out the Yukon Rangers? Good heavens!

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jc on Sep 24, 2019 at 5:15 pm

Excuse me but that has got to be the dumbest declaration in Yukon History. I'm sure it will come back to haunt him some day.

Up 52 Down 3

Guncache on Sep 24, 2019 at 5:11 pm

Waste of time and resources.

Up 30 Down 6

Jason on Sep 24, 2019 at 4:53 pm

Virtue signalling by the City at this point. Shame they removed the motions that would involve actually investing in climate change measures.

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Facepalm on Sep 24, 2019 at 4:30 pm

Hartland for Mayor.

Up 55 Down 3

Please take my money on Sep 24, 2019 at 3:58 pm

Right on. So what is it going to cost us citizens of Whitehorse, 0.1% of Canada's population to cut down on our 0.1% of the 1.6% of the world's CO2 emissions that Canada contributes?? People say, "Yes, but we have one of the highest per capita emissions!!" Uhh, yeah. No kidding. Most of us up here are pretty big fans of not freezing to death in our homes when its -35. Not to mention the hundreds of kilometers we need to travel to get pretty much anywhere that isn't here... Kudos to Coun. Hartland for actually thinking about this issue rationally instead of operating on knee-jerk emotional responses.

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Samson has my vote on Sep 24, 2019 at 3:49 pm

Samson just won my vote for the next election (words I've never thought I'd say). I'd like to know the financial implications this will have before making the decision....especially since Whitehorse is not a huge contributor to the whole problem.

We can all do small things in our daily lives to make a difference. Education does this, not scare tactics. Time to move out of city limits because I'm tired of my hard earned money being wasted on personal agendas.

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Talk but no action on Sep 24, 2019 at 3:30 pm

Rather than calling an emergency or hosting "strike" walk outs, what is actually being done? Here's an idea, why don't we try something simple like invest in waste to energy initiatives (like what they use in Sweden) where we turn our trash into power. The air scrubbing technology for these plants has greatly improved and it would reduce the need to bury our trash and give the Yukon more energy sustainability. Yes it's expensive but it would be worth it in the long run and would actually DO something. I'm so sick of all this declaring an emergency and get togethers where everyone just talks, I'd like to see some actual actions put into place.

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Finally we're getting ahead! on Sep 24, 2019 at 3:11 pm

Some suggestions:
1- Stop inviting tourists to the Yukon. They fly or drive here which increases C02 in the air. We should shut down the tourism industry completely! Either live here or leave.

2- Stop leaving the Yukon. No more government trips. No more flights for vacations. Vacations are selfish and cause harm to the environment. Any person travelling for leisure should be banned from doing so. Any business that is a meeting should be conducted via teleconferencing.

3- No more heating fuel used at the Canada Games Centres. Those facilities should be boycotted until they turn to thermal or solar heating!

4- No more heating fuels for schools or any other public building. We have to lead the way.

5- No more purchases from Amazon or online ordering. The C02 effect by consumption (accruing material, manufacturing, packaging, shipping) has a detrimental effect on the environment. This is compounded by individual freight shipments.

If you're not ascribing to each one of the above, then you're part of the problem. There is no planet B.

The problem that we're facing is consumption. That technologies that we have were created for altruistic purposes, however, their effect may be detrimental to the environment (nothing in comparison to the Earth's natural 02 cycle, ... but any ways). The modern combustion engine helped stop the advancement of the Axis during WW2. Bottled water helped bring clean water to areas that didn't have any. Plastic bags saved us from the paper bag epidemic which was going to save us from cutting down all the trees.

The problem is consumption.
And to prove the simple hypocrisy or stupidity of this decision; can the City of Whitehorse remove all initiatives to increase tourism, penalize people who have visitors come from outside the Yukon, and shut down the airport?

Oh, wait.
You want the money. No more special guests, no more art shows, no more sporting events. All of those things are creating more C02. But you won't stop that will you?

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Josey Wales on Sep 24, 2019 at 2:46 pm

Wow...”I don’t know if I can say this”...
Now you made that ridiculous claim, are you going to cease all after hours and unnecessary civic lighting....INCLUDING that Vegas strip CoW does each year. Union Christmas light hangers...imagine?
Stop your staff from driving all the way into town to Timmy’s from wherever they are at coffee and lunch?
Stop closing streets for BBQs that use fracked fuel?

Or is it just the little people that needs to change?
Unbelievable the levels of stupidity attained on our dime.

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