I am deeply troubled by the…

I am deeply troubled by the Government of Ontario's plan to repeal the Cap and Trade Act. Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have now exceeded 405ppm, despite numerous warnings, including Hansen et al (2008) that a "safe operating space" for Earth's ecosystems cannot exceed 350ppm (a concentration that was passed in the 1980s). In such an extreme overshoot, it is the responsibility of all people, and all levels of government to take strong, sometimes-uncomfortable, but well-informed actions to reduce our contributions of greenhouse gas emissions, in order to mitigate climate change. The impacts of climate change within our lifetimes will undoubtedly be more severe and far more uncomfortable and expensive for us all than the measures we can take immediately to reduce our contributions to the problem. It is unconscionable for this provincial government to cancel a well-researched and effective measure like the Cap and Trade Act, and it is particularly shocking that this is being done without an alternatively strong and effective system in place (such as a carbon tax). It will be ecologically devastating for Ontario businesses to freely to emit GHGs without penalty while policy-makers slowly plan, discuss, and implement an alternative (an alternative that is expected to be far less effective in achieving its goals of reducing GHG emissions than the cap and trade system). If this government insists on undermining the sound climate change mitigation policy that is the Cap and Trade Act, demonstrate to the Ontarians to whom you are responsible that your alternative GHG-reduction policy will be effective in the imperative that we "play our part" to meet the urgent need to reduce global concentrations of CO2 back to below 350ppm by mid-century. This must be accomplished by sequestering atmospheric CO2 and tremendously reducing GHG emissions.