Real solutions needed

Dear sir,
Anyone who pays any attention to what is happening in our world must know one thing for certain: We are in the midst of an unprecedented climate emergency.
Glaciers hundreds of years old are disappearing, permafrost is melting, ocean warming is killing coral reefs including the Great Barrier Reef.
Sea level rise isn’t theoretical; it is happening now.
Climatologists are telling us that the effects of planetary warming are happening much faster than predicted.
We don’t have much time to stop the burning of fossil fuels which is the main culprit in the threat to our survival.
Since we are in the midst of a national election, one would expect to see the threat to our survival as the paramount issue.
We are surprisingly disappointed. Neither of the main parties seem willing to do more than pay lip service to a threat to our existence.
We must judge them by what they do, not what they say.
We lived through ten years of Conservative government under Stephen Harper. It was a period in which scientific institutes were closed and their libraries scattered.
Climate change was a forbidden topic. Scientists working for the government were prohibited, under threat of dismissal, from warning about the crisis.
Harper seemed to govern for the benefit of Alberta’s oil and gas industry and protecting its profits was of greatest importance.
Andrew Scheer wants to continue Harper’s policies to put the interests of the fossil fuel industries ahead of climate action.
We may have hoped for better from Justin Trudeau but we have reason to be disappointed. Trudeau, in what is arguably the most bizarre act by a prime minister in Canadian history, actually bought a pipeline for $4.5 billion.
He wants to move Alberta’s tar sands across fragile terrain in a 67-year-old pipeline.
What lunacy! Why did he do it?
As Trudeau himself admitted, it was to protect the profits of the primarily American investors of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
From the actions of these two political parties, it is obvious that what is most important to them is corporate profits.
They are like two inept handymen who are tinkering with the furnace while the roof is on fire. They’re not helping.
People need to look elsewhere that these two parties for real solutions to our climate emergency.
Yours truly,
Rudolf K. F. Zeitlhofer