An Imperfect Storm & Our Response

On the Saturday of this past holiday weekend in Canada we were watching the Severe Thunderstorm Watch for our region of Southern Ontario. They often come and go without major incident and this was the case for us once again. We had a brief downpour and rumbles of thunder before the storm moved on. We didn't lose power even though we found out later that it was out all around us for several hours.

Other parts of our large province were not so fortunate. It turned out that an event called a derecho had swept through an area hundreds of kilometres in length leaving damage and devastation behind, depending on the community. Until a couple of years ago I'd never heard of a derecho and then only in the States. Trees were uprooted, houses destroyed in some cases, as was electrical grid infrastucture. The death toll stands at ten, with most of these persons killed by falling trees.

One of our daughters and her family lost power at their rural home and have been told that it won't be restored until at least tomorrow, perhaps not even then. Scores of power poles in their area snapped like twigs and trees are down everywhere. They didn't sustain any damage and they have a generator which has kept the essentials going but many neighbours don't. The irony is that they have two large solar arrays on their property but they are tied into the electrical grid so they aren't able to access this alternative energy. 

I am a Christian who is convinced that we must respond to the climate emergency within the life of faith communities, in our individual choices, and through voicing our convictions to governments as decision-makers. Across this country and continent and around the world the number of extreme weather events is increasing, alarmingly, and the consequences are catastrophic. We are seeing that no region is spared and it is naive and unfaithful to ignore what is transpiring.

We are only days away from an election here in Ontario and it appears that a government which has steadfastly ignored environmental issues will be returned to power. The record of the Conservatives is dismal and yet the environment has been a back-burner issue during this campaign for most parties others than the Greens. Premier Doug Ford made a quick stop at one of the communities most effected by the weekend weather event and blathered about "getting it done" in terms of restoration. The Conservatives' slogan should be "done like dinner" because of their wilful ignorance of the crisis we face. 

How many wake-up calls do we need? We deserve better from government but we have personal and systemic choices to make which will require a change of heart and practice -- repentance to use a faith term. God help us all.