Following a year of catastrophic weather events in British Columbia, Earth Day is hitting a little different this year.
In 2021, the province endured atmospheric rivers leading to devastating floods and landslides.
There was also a record-breaking heat wave, during which the provincial government endured heavy criticism for its lack of preparation.
One political scientist says while massive policy changes are needed, everyday citizens must make big changes of their own.
"It requires consumers and everyday, ordinary citizens to be willing to change their everyday behaviour, and so far I believe we're not at that point yet," said Andy Hira, professor of political science at Simon Fraser University.
Hira says both the provincial and national economies are also contributing to the issue.
"If we look at our economy now, we see that every sector of our economy is dependent on fossil fuels, whether were talking about transportation, heating, our energy for manufacturing,” he said.
Hira points to better utilization of renewable energies as a solution.
“When the sun’s not shining or the wind’s not blowing, you need ways to store that energy,” said Hira
“In B.C., we have huge amounts of hydro, but we don’t have the means to ship it to other provinces, we don’t have the transmission lines,” he added.
Hira says those transmission lines would do wonders compared to pipelines.
“Why wouldn't we be able to sell some of that hydro to Alberta to wean them off some fossil fuels?"
If weaning off of fossil fuels is an obvious solution, why isn’t happening?
“On the one hand, fossil fuels are cheaper, they’re more reliable in terms of energy storage, and more importantly fossil fuel lobbies are super powerful,” said Hira.
“It reflects the fact that Alberta is so important politically, and the fossil fuel lobby is still so powerful.”
