There’s much work to be done to combat the effects of climate change globally and locally.
On Thursday, Prince Edward County’s Committee of the Whole heard the first annual report of its newly created Environmental Advisory Committee.
Climate change, and subsequent global warming, poses many problems including drought, harm to the tree canopy and overland and coastline flooding.
Vice-Chair Angus Ross said the insurance industry used to focus on structure fires but now the biggest concern is flooding.
Audio Player“Water damage has become the prime cause of loss and we’re seeing far more events, they are more frequent and
they are more severe.”
Both flooding and drought will have serious negative consequences for county property owners and especially farmers.
The chair of the Environmental Advisory Committee Councillor Kate MacNaughton said a major obstacle to educating the public is the amount of disinformation constantly spread online.
Audio Player“A lot of it seems targeted on not doing action that is going to have a protective effect on the problems that we have, due to climate.”
Councillor Bill Roberts said one way to counteract misinformation on the internet is to concentrate on posting progress and good news along with the bad.
One example of that would be statistics showing that most rich democracies have seen greenhouse gas emissions trending lower for the past several years.
Roberts also read from a United Nations report suggesting this year (2025) could see the peak for greenhouse gas emissions with the numbers expected to decrease from now on.
However, emissions could go back up with the increasing development of artificial intelligence facilities which need immense amounts of power to operate. Roberts described the enormous amounts of energy needed to run just one cryptocurrency (bitcoin) plant as an example.
Prince Edward County Council has already set a goal of cutting municipal emissions by 20 per cent over the next 10 years from the readings that existed locally in 2019.
The Environmental Advisory Committee is currently working on a Climate Action Plan and will set community emissions goals as part of that process.
See the entire annual report of the Environmental Advisory Committee here.
Prince Edward County and the Climate Action Plan Working Group are looking for community input on the best ways to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Residents are encouraged to provide suggestions for corporation action as well as community-led initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The intent is to develop a plan that is by the county for the county.
A series of consultation events will occur in the coming weeks:
- Saturday, March 22, 10 a.m. to 12:00 noon – Ameliasburgh Town Hall
- Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Wellington and District Community Centre
- Wednesday, April 2, 3 to 4 p.m. – Youth engagement at The ROC in Picton
- Wednesday, April 9, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. – Milford Town Hall
- Saturday, April 12, 11 a.m. – Prince Edward Community Centre in Picton
At each of the consultation events, participants are invited to:
- Learn more about the work being done by municipal staff and the Climate Action Plan Working Group
- Explore both the corporate and community initial greenhouse gas emission inventory findings
- Comment on actions proposed by staff and the Climate Action Working Group as well as provide their own suggested remedies. All viewpoints will be considered as a way forward for Prince Edward County is developed.
