Dogs haul a sled through meltwater on coastal sea ice in northwest Greenland, June 13, 2019. Extensive melting of the Greenland ice sheet and sea ice loss is already several weeks ahead of normal, scientists say.Steffen M. Olsen/The New York Times News Service
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com
..................................................................................................................................
Climate complacency
Last Thursday, on the front page, we read that Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is refusing to commit to the Paris targets of a 30-per-cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 (Scheer Promises Regulations, Tax Incentives To Reduce Greenhouse Gases).
The same day, inside the front section, we read that scientists say this target has to be 50 per cent to avert catastrophic temperature rise (Emissions Must Be Cut In Half Within A Decade To Keep Temperatures From Rising Above 1.5 Degrees, Scientists Say).
On another page, we read that Seattle is outfitting buildings with positive-pressure ventilation so citizens can breath clean air during the “new normal” of rampant wildfire seasons (Smoke Shelters To Open In Seattle For ‘New Normal’ Summer Wildfire Season).
Meanwhile, in his column on the same day, John Ibbitson perceptively wrote: “Most voters don’t care enough about climate change to accept a major inconvenience, let alone real sacrifice, to combat it” (Climate Positions Show Grits, Tories Are Thankfully Alike).
We are the frog, sitting complacently in its pot, as the water temperature is slowly raised to boiling. Future generations will bitterly condemn us, incredulous at our complacency, willful blindness, and fatally short-term thinking.
Brian P.H. Green, Thunder Bay, Ont.
...........................................
It is absurd to suggest there is no effective difference between the Liberal and Conservative environmental plans. One is market-based (Liberal), the other is purely regulatory, with tax-break incentives for polluters to change their ways (Conservative). If the latter worked, we already would have solved the problem.
The Liberals believe government action is necessary; the Conservatives believe industry will do it on its own.
Frank Piddisi, Toronto
...........................................
As an economist, I agree in theory that a carbon tax is the most transparent and effective way to change energy use habits of our citizens and thus reduce GHGs.
For a carbon tax to be effective, however, it would need to be multiples higher than those in effect or proposed. This would be politically impossible to sell, as shown by recent provincial elections.
Current carbon taxes in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada are not high enough to have a significant impact on our behaviour. They are, at best, feel-good taxes that enable politicians to strut their environmental commitments.
Thus, sadly, I have come to the conclusion that in our democracy, significant reductions in our GHG emissions can only be achieved by regulation and incentives.
Art Willms, Vancouver
Cryptocurrency unease
Re France Creates G7 Cryptocurrency Task Force As Facebook’s Libra Unsettles Governments (June 21): Now that Facebook has launched a cryptocurrency, is it time for governments around the world to consider criminalizing its creation and use in an attempt to reduce money laundering, extortion, ransom demands, leakage of tax revenues and other nefarious activities?
Jaffer Sunderji, Toronto
‘Stuck in the middle …’
So now the U.S. President is considering war with Iran (U.S. Says Mine Fragments Suggest Iran Behind Gulf Tanker Attack, June 20).
It probably looks like the best way to make himself appear “presidential” in 2020. Remember, this is the same person whose bone spur in who knows which foot (he doesn’t seem to) kept him out of Vietnam, who is now a great war leader? Destroyer of Iranian and American lives – a prospect that matters less to him than winning an election?
And Canada’s Conservative Leader is advocating a strengthened NORAD alliance with a Trumpian “America”? Whatever happened to Canada? To our historic battles to remain independent of that cesspool?
Tragic.
Mary Lazier Corbett, Picton, Ont.
...........................................
It seems to me that the news out of Britain about Boris Johnson, coupled with what’s been happening to the south of us, might suggest the time has come to repurpose that 1970s hit by Stealers Wheel: Clowns to the left of us,
Jokers to the right, here we are,
Stuck in the middle with them …
Michael Vollmer, Burlington, Ont.
Airbnb’s place
Re Airbnb Likely Kept 31,000 Homes Out Of Long-Term Rental Market Last Year: Study (June 20): I agree the abuse of Airbnb and related services needs to be curbed, but short-term accommodation is also needed. Commuting for work from one city to another every week in the fall, I need a place two nights a week. My Airbnb hosts are individuals, one offering a spare room in her condo, the other a small basement apartment in a family home.
I have also used Airbnb when doing research abroad. Usually, hotels are far more expensive, and one can’t make one’s own meals. For holidays, some may like “all-inclusive,” but others prefer to look after their own needs, including shopping at local stores for supplies.
More may need to be done to curb those who misuse the service, and to stop those buying up multiple spaces, but there is a legitimate need and demand for short-term accommodation.
Rianne Mahon, Ottawa
...........................................
Airbnb’s impact on the rental market is the symptom, not the problem. The fact that Airbnb can disrupt the rental market underscores the real problem of a critical shortage of purpose-built rental units in Canada’s major cities.
In a market where residential investment properties constitute a majority of the rental stock (that is, renters are renting from a homeowner, and not from a commercial property landlord), there will be a positive feedback loop between rising rents and rising home prices.
When landlords are increasingly homeowners, they will set rents not at what the market can bear, nor at an acceptable return on investment, but at what will cover their mortgage carrying-costs.
As we’ve seen Canada’s personal debt skyrocket, larger mortgage payments have meant ever-larger rents. These high rents make home ownership relatively attractive, both for current renters and for prospective landlords.
Renters and landlords both descend on the hapless Toronto housing market, bidding up home prices. If the landlord with the highest bid finds they now have a larger mortgage than they expected, they simply raise the rent to cover the cost.
Rinse and repeat.
Regulate Airbnb if you must (and there are other good reasons to regulate and tax these platforms), but don’t expect it to solve the underlying issue in Canada’s rental market.
John Richards, Toronto
Hmm …
Re Talk Of Rays’ Montreal Arrangement Can’t Distract From Jays’ Collapse (June 21): Cathal Kelly describes the Toronto Blue Jays as “organized incompetence.” I would dispute the adjective.
Bill Atkinson, Calgary
_____________________________________________________________________
Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Get the Opinion newsletter. Sign up today.