High schooler's petition calls on Oakville council to declare climate change emergency
In 2 weeks petition gained 1,200 signatures
Insidehalton.com
May 28, 2019
David Lea
A local high school student has accumulated more than 1,200 signatures on a petition, which calls on the Town of Oakville to declare a climate change emergency.
Grade 11 Abbey Park High School Andrei Adam says he decided to publish the petition on May 8 because the planet is facing a climate change catastrophe.
“I’m one of those people who watches the news a lot and tries to stay connected,” he said.
“One thing that has really been happening a lot, especially in the past year, is we are seeing the various effects of climate change , For me this is frightening because at the end of the day the effects of climate change are going to be felt more by my generation, not the people that are making the decisions now.”
“We can’t let the people that refuse to accept the science hold us back from making a difference because we only have really 11 years to cut down our emissions and extreme amount."
Grade 11 Abbey Park High School Andrei Adam
Adam said he was inspired by the UK Parliament declaring a climate change emergency on May 1, following demonstrations by youth activists and advocacy by 16-year-old Swedish student Greta Thunberg.
He was further spurred to action when Burlington city council declared a climate change emergency in early May.
“In Oakville we pride ourselves as being the most livable town,” said Adam.
“Climate change threatens the livability of not just our town, but of our global community, so why isn’t Oakville recognizing the extreme problem of climate change and doing more to limit our carbon emissions.”
Adam said he posted his petition on charge.org to see if there was support in the community for Oakville declaring a climate change emergency.
He posted the petition on Instagram and says on the first day it was shared 350 to 400 times.
“A lot of them were young people. I didn’t know them. They were just seeing this post and sharing it because it was something they believed in and they recognized the urgency of it,” said Adam.
A week after the petition was posted Adam said it had been shared more than 1,000 times and received more than 900 signatures.
As of late afternoon May 24, the petition had received more than 1,200 signatures.
“Most of them are Oakville teens, university students and elementary students, but there have also been teachers and parents sharing it and even seniors sharing it,” said Adam.
“Obviously this is an issue that a lot of people feel is important.”
In the petition Adam notes that leading scientists have warned that humanity only has 11 years to take emergency action on climate change or face the gravest threats to the local and global environment.
He said these threats include worsening risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.
Oakville declaring a climate change emergency, Adam said, would show the town takes climate change seriously and is trying to address it.
In addition to the declaration, Adam is also calling for action from the town.
He said the town needs to aim to reduce or offset its carbon dioxide emissions by about 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2050.
Adam said this reduction would be in line with the most recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
Having an electric vehicle charger at every gas station in Oakville and phasing out plastic bags, plastic straws and single use disposable cups are all goals the town is capable of and should pursue, said Adam.
Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said he would be asking town staff during Monday’s May 27 council meeting to report back to council on the specific climate change initiatives the town has undertaken and the opportunities for Oakville residents to do their part at home and in the community to tackle climate change.
He said the declaration of a climate change emergency will be discussed during the June 24 council meeting.
“Over the past decade, council has taken action to reduce the town’s impact on the environment and to address the effects of climate change, such as our forests being attacked by emerald ash borer, flooding in our local parks and extreme weather events,” said Burton.
“A call to action by youth on climate change supports council’s vision for Oakville, and we look forward to getting the community involved in taking action to fight climate change.”
Adam said he is amazed that some still do not see the importance of acting to combat climate change or continue to believe it is not real.
He received no shortage of online comments denying climate change and declaring his petition “left-wing propaganda.”
Adam noted there is scientific consensus, around 97 per cent, that climate change is real, and humans are causing it.
“We can’t let the people that refuse to accept the science hold us back from making a difference because we only have really 11 years to cut down our emissions and extreme amount,” he said.
“We can’t wait for everyone to be on-board with it because the consequences of inaction are too great.”
Adam’s petition can be seen at:
