Smilin' with Suzuki

Canadians are finally reaching a state where climate change is no longer some lamented, bleeding-hearted battle cry from scheming leftist hippies. Instead, skeptics are finding it tough to argue against the mountains of scientific consensus that says we are indeed heading up “shit creek” without a paddle (and soon without water because the glacial sources are almost gone).

An Angus Reid poll released last week states that 77 percent of Canadians think climate change is real.

Well… duh.

What is going on in the heads of the other half-witted 23 percent? Oh right, they’re from Alberta (Zing! Sorry Albertans, roasting ya’ll is becoming clichéd. You guys deserve more credit… I know ya’ll are doing yer best to find “environmentally friendly” oil out there!)

Issues of sustainability and the environment are on my mind as I recently attended the youth summit Less Talk, More Action featuring keynote speakers David Suzuki and Al Gore.

The afternoon of speeches was inspiring and disturbing; we were beaten over the head with statistics and research on the reality of climate change. Do we need any more reason to act? Do we really need more convincing?

I left the event feeling content to have heard such amazing lectures, but with a big acid rain cloud of bleakness above my head. It is easy to feel discouraged with the current state of the environment and even more so with inept political policy.

Fortunately I have David Suzuki to bring me joy.

It is hard for me to be nonbiased or objective about David Suzuki…. he’s just so darn lovable (in an appreciative Guru sort of way). My (not so) secret fantasy is for us to grab an old, converted bio-diesel VW Westfalia and hit the highway for a two-week, cross-Canada road trip. We sleep under the northern lights, eat breakfasts at small town diners, and he bestows upon me the wisdom that he has acquired over the years. He teaches me the nature of things; I attempt to make him laugh with impersonations of George Bush and Stephen Harper. We’re modern day eco-warriors.

Al Gore can come too, but the minute he has a few shots of corn whiskey and starts talking about “Cow Tipp(er)ing” during his early days in Tennessee, he’ll be hitching his sorry ass back to America.

Speaking of Al Gore, I was actually surprised by the man. I have not yet seen “An Inconvenient Truth” (is that shameful?) and for some reason, I had really expected him to not have an actual personality; his address to the crowd was a mix of comedy act, science lecture, pep talk, and Baptist sermon. I give him kudos for his passion and knowledge, and for generating a movie that has educated the masses. He has taken election-loss-lemons and made organic lemonade.

So after attending Less Talk, More Action, I had the intention to write a passionate column about climate change and individual responsibility, filled with hard hitting statistics and inspiring prose, but I find that the message of environmental decay is becoming tiresome and laced with fear. Do I really need to motivate you to care about climate change?

No. And thank god, the “inspiring prose” idea was a long shot.

Understandably there is reason to be afraid, Suzuki and Gore attested to that; we need to change and we need to change quickly. Fast change requires that we challenge our communities and ourselves.

But how do we deal with the challenge?

When I am sweating in yoga class, trying to twist myself into some unnatural human pretzel, my instructor often says, “When it becomes really uncomfortable, curl up the sides of your mouth”. At that point I remember to breathe and usually release an awkward expression that is somewhere between a smile and a grimace.

When it comes to ecological and economic issues, we need to challenge in order to change. This means challenging our notions of what is a "healthy society", which currently is heavily defined through financial capital. Healthy societies are those where the citizens are physically, financially, spiritually, and socially content.

It will be a beautiful day when we have reestablished a sense of ecological balance, and it will be even greater if we are able to keep our abilities to smile as we go through the inevitable challenges required.

I know that I’ll be smiling because I’ve got David Suzuki on my side.


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You can access the David Suzuki Foundation from the link on the side of this page.