It’s (almost) too late to save the planet
Learning about mitigation measures is key to staying positive
As a student in public policy, the future of… well, everything, feels pretty bleak right now.
With the precarious government leadership situation in Canada—and many other countries— and the threats of budget cuts to the Canadian public service impacting the job market for new and upcoming graduates, it’s tough to feel hope when you’re surrounded by pessimism.
All of this is made worse when one gains awareness that our earth is burning and doesn’t have much time left before the crops dry up and we all die.
Shit’s pretty bleak.
Climate change is the greatest and most wicked problem that humans have had to face, as it directly concerns the likelihood of future generations surviving. The Climate Clock offers a stark reminder of the temporal constraints we’re under to mitigate as much as we can before we reach the point of no return. With four years left on the clock, time is running out.
But all hope is not lost!
Viable—though this categorization is arguable—solutions exist, and it is possible to preserve some of the earth and future as we know it. Continuing to fund research and development into clean energy technologies, implementing strategic carbon pricing models, and offering incentives such as rebates are practical policy solutions that governments can implement to encourage a switch to green energy. The name of the game is no longer prevention; it’s now about mitigating the risks of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions to extend the life of our planet.
One of the biggest issues that persists concerning climate change and how we approach it is a simple lack of climate efficacy. Beyond state actors and international organizations, there is a widespread general lack of understanding across the globe of how urgent the climate crisis really is. Take the carbon tax, for example. It is almost scary that the average Canadian thinks that the carbon tax is stealing money from them and is totally responsible for inflation. This is absolutely not the case.
The carbon tax has contributed to less than 0.15 per cent of inflation in Canada, and as of 2024, 80 per cent of Canadian households have actually been getting more money back in quarterly climate rebates than they’ve been paying as a result of the carbon tax, through buying everyday goods such as gas.
Understandably, it may not feel that way for many people, as the upfront price at the pump can come as a frustrating shock.
The simple fact is that the disinformation surrounding mitigation tools such as the carbon tax prevents people from knowing the facts.
On the consumer side of things, it appears that the onus has been placed on us to tackle the climate crisis and save the planet, when it should be the big polluters facing the financial consequences of their actions.
Suffice it to say that it will be interesting to see how climate policy plays out and changes as Canada faces an election on April 28.
This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 12, published April 1, 2025.
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