Join us in a collective effort to Speak Out during National Environment Week, June 3-9.

Together, let’s send a clear message to Ottawa to leave our important environmental protection measures intact and to listen to the voices of all Canadians who seek to defend nature. Let them know that you support a Canadian Energy Strategy that focuses on the transition to a new energy future, based on conservation and renewable energy.



Take Action


Your voice matters! Join thousands of Canadians and organizations that will black out their websites on June 4th during Black Out Speak Out. For more visit blackoutspeakout.ca.

Write a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources, and Peter Kent, Minister of Environment. Copy Thomas Mulcair, Leader of the Official Opposition, Megan Leslie, Deputy Leader of the Environment, Jamie Nicholls, Energy and Natural Resources Critic, and your Member of Parliament.



Remember – your letter will have more impact if you are civil and provide factual information (provided below). 



Either:

• Handwrite your letter, and mail copies addressed to each representative (more work but your letter will stand out. Remember, letters to the House of Commons require no postage) Representative Name (i.e. Prime Minister Stephen Harper) House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
• Email your message to:

Stephen.Harper@parl.gc.ca (Prime Minister)

Joe.Oliver@parl.gc.ca (Minister of Natural Resources)

Peter.Kent@parl.gc.ca (Minister of Environment)

Thomas.Mulcair@parl.gc.ca (Leader of the Official Opposition)

Megan.Leslie@parl.gc.ca (NDP Environment Critic)

Jamie.Nicholls@parl.gc.ca (NDP Natural Resources Critic)

For your Member of Parliament – click here

• You could also call your MP’s Ottawa office, the offices of the Prime Minister, and Ministers of the Environment and Natural Resources: 1-866-599-4999. You will either leave a message on a machine or with a receptionist.
• Submit a petition to your MP and ask that they read it aloud in Parliament at some point during National Environment Week. Click here to access the petition and details.
• Write to your provincial Premier and Minister of Energy, asking that they support a Canadian Energy Strategy that focuses on conservation and renewable energy.
• Write Letters to the Editor to the national and local papers.
• Write to the editorial board if you like their editorials on climate change and action, or ask that they write more on this issue.
• Participate in Black Out Speak Out on June 4. blackoutspeakout.ca/ 


Key Messages

• Preserve our environmental protection measures and listen to Canadians. For details and messaging,  blackoutspeakout.ca/about.php
• We need a Canadian Energy Strategy that embraces the New Energy Transition, which focuses on conservation and renewable energy. (The Minister of Natural Resources and provincial energy ministers will meet in September to discuss next steps on a Canadian Energy Strategy. Meetings will take place throughout the summer leading up to this event. Let’s ensure the focus is on transitioning to a new energy economy and not on exporting tar sands bitumen.)
• This transition is imperative. Fossil fuels are warming our planet, and are becoming more expensive. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the burning of fossil fuel must peak by 2015 and decline thereafter. Any delay will make this transition economically unfeasible and commit us to a global rise in temperature of more than 2 degrees Celsius, which all climate experts and governments agree is very dangerous. guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/may/05/climatechange.climatechangeenvironment
• Canada’s National Roundtable for the Environment and the Economy, which recently lost its government funding, is now using its dying days to issue clear warnings to Canadians. They reiterated their findings from the 2011 report that climate change will drain $5 billion a year from the Canadian economy by 2020. The costs will climb steeply after that, chopping Canadian economy activity by between $21 billion and $43 billion a year by 2050, depending on how much action is taken to reduce greenhouse gases by then. huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/27/national-round-table-on-the-environment_n_1458454.html?ref=canada-politics

More Messages*

• In 2010, worldwide private capital investments in renewable energy ($187 billion) surpassed electricity investments using natural gas, oil, and coal ($157 billion). articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/25/business/la-fi-renewables-20111125
• In 2011, the global market for clean technologies reached $1 trillion. From Analytica Advisors, “Spotlight on Cleantech No. 3,” January 2012. bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-07/-1-trillion-speaks-louder-than-un-talks.html
• Though China is growing and urbanizing, it is working to reduce its dependence on oil. According to one recent Chinese government estimate, the nation will spend $313 billion in the coming five years to grow a low-carbon economy. chinadaily.com.cn/sunday/2011-09/25/content_13786436.htm
• Gasoline use in the United States remains flat, and there are indications that the younger generation may be reconsidering its century-long love affair with the car. The country is even questioning its interest in further reliance on heavy crude oils. tnr.com/blog/the-avenue/98415/driving-drops-again-what%E2%80%99s-the-big-picture
• In the third quarter of 2011, U.S. companies secured 599 patents for technologies in solar, wind, hybrid/electric vehicles, fuel cells, hydroelectric, tidal/wave, geothermal, biomass/biofuels and other clean and renewable energy—the highest total since 2002. (In the same period, Canadian companies secured 10 patents.) cleanenergypatentgrowthindex.com/
• In spite of the debt crisis troubling parts of the European economy, Europe continues to invest in clean energy. The region met its 2010 renewable energy targets, is on track to exceed its 2020 targets by 20 percent. Almost 70 percent of new generation installed in Europe last year was renewable. ewea.org/index.php?id=60&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1892&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=05ee83819
• B.C., Australia, California, the northeastern U.S. and a variety of other jurisdictions and regions have either implemented or are poised to introduce economy-wide carbon pricing.
• The usually conservative International Energy Agency warned that we have five years left to act to avoid severe climate change. worldenergyoutlook.org/


* Special thanks to Tides Canada for compiling this information.