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Activists push for more action on climate change

Orlando led a small group of activists Saturday who participated in the Defend our Climate, Defend Our Communities National Day of Action.
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A small group of activists and local politicians gathered at Memorial Park Saturday for the Defend our Climate, Defend Our Communities National Day of Action. Photo by Jonathan Migneault.
Orlando led a small group of activists Saturday who participated in the Defend our Climate, Defend Our Communities National Day of Action.

The Sudbury contingent of the national event – with participants in close to 100 communities across Canada – gathered at Memorial Park to bring attention to the human contributors to climate change and promote change.

“All we lack is the political will to solve this problem,” Orlando said.

Sudbury provincial Green Party candidate Casey Lalonde attended the event, and said the negative effects of climate change are undeniable.

“When you warm the climate you'll have flooding in some areas, droughts in other areas, extreme temperatures around the globe,” she said. “We need to identify what we're doing that has an impact and essentially stop it.”

Ward 1 Coun. and NDP candidate Joe Cimino was also at the event. “It's important not to produce energy we don't need,” he said.

The NDP's climate change policy includes promises for up to $5,000 in home energy retrofit rebates and a plant to phase out coal, maintain the feed-in tariff program, and bring 10,700 megawatts of renewable energy online by 2018.

Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann said at a municipal level the city should consider low-impact development policies to better manage storm water and mitigate flooding.

“We can build better, we can plan better, we can be aware of what's coming and prepare better,” she said.

Sixteen-year-old Salina Mathur said she participated in the day of action because she sees climate change impacting her future directly.

Mathur said her mother inspired her to become a climate change activist, and she recently attended a conference organized by Al Gore, where he trained attendees to give his climate change presentation.

“I think we need to implement a carbon tax,” Mathur said.

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Jonathan Migneault

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