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Best-selling author urges Harper to meet KyotoApril 21, 2006 - OTTAWA – The author of an explosive new book on climate change traveled to Ottawa today to deliver an urgent plea to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, calling on him to live up to the Kyoto Protocol. Tim Flannery, author of the new book The Weather Makers, said climate change is a real threat that needs immediate action. “Canada’s decision to not live up to Kyoto is extremely damaging and very regrettable,” said Flannery, speaking at a press conference in Ottawa this morning. “The Earth is now slipping towards an irreversible and catastrophic change in climate. Canada is chairing the Kyoto process this year and that gives the country immense influence. That's why the world is looking to Canadians for the moral and political leadership needed to combat this dire threat.” If nothing is done to abate global warming, the twenty-first century will experience conditions the planet has not seen in 40 million years, said Mr. Flannery. Hurricanes, melting ice caps, widespread species extinction and massive flooding are among some of the impacts caused by a warming climate. Prime Minister Harper recently announced his government would not live up to the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, which requires Canada to cut its polluting greenhouse gas emissions six per cent by 2012. Instead, Harper will start from scratch and create a new plan to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gases. “The last thing we need right now is more talk,” said Dale Marshall, an Ottawa-based policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation. “We’ve had more than a decade of discussions and number crunching in Canada. It’s time for bold action and leadership and we are calling on Prime Minister Harper to provide that.” Mr. Flannery has sent a copy of his book to Prime Minister Harper in the hopes of convincing him to take action on climate change. Mr. Flannery’s call to action has already won support from other political leaders, including UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard. “This is an issue that crosses partisan lines,” said Lorne Johnson, Ottawa bureau director of the World Wildlife Fund. “Politicians and world leaders of all political stripes are waking up to the fact that climate change is the largest environmental and health threat humanity has ever faced. Canada needs to regain its global credibility on this issue and act now to dramatically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.” Earlier today Mr. Flannery outlined several steps Prime Minister Harper could take to put Canada on a path to meeting its Kyoto commitments, including: · Investing in renewable energy
TIM FLANNERY is an internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist. His books include the definitive ecological histories of Australia (The Future Eaters) and North America (The Eternal Frontier), as well as Throwim Way Leg, A Gap in Nature and Astonishing Animals. He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and The Times Literary Supplement. Flannery spent a year as professor of Australian studies at Harvard, where he taught in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He lives in Adelaide, Australia, where he is director of the South Australian Museum and professor at the University of Adelaide.
For more information, please contact: Rob Firing Sarah Marchildon Lorne Johnson
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