"Narrow-minded and stupid,"
Were the first publicly printed words in response to Toronto's decision to ban smoking in bars...
"Where are we supposed to go if we can't go to our local watering hole and have a glass of beer and a cigarette?"
While bar smoking stopped in 1997, the health risks had been widely accepted in the Scientific community for over 50 years.
So why did it take so long for the general public to accept that smoking really was THAT bad for your health?
Many fingers point to Big Tobacco...
Today we face a similar problem with climate change, where Big Oil Companies have borrowed similar tactics from their Tobacco counterparts to delay action.
But California - and other US States - are reopening a playbook they used to take on Big tobacco companies by trying to prove that big oil has concealed evidence linking fossil fuels to climate change, in a similar manner to how tobacco companies hid the health risks of tobacco smoke.
And they're accusing the world's biggest energy companies - Shell, Exxon Mobile & Chevron - in a landmark court case of concealing the damage caused by fossil fuels for more than half a century.
It's the BIGGEST law suit of it's kind.
California wants big oil to cover the costs of fighting wildfires and mitigating the effects of dense smog. (New York Times)
Last month I spoke to close friend who would likely be described as a 'conspiracy theorist'. He doesn't believe in climate change and I could see how his arguments could resonate in certain groups, but here's the thing, he hasn't done the research like my other friend Mike.
Mike is a Scientist (Dr. Mike, I call him) and he lives in Canada's arctic, where he has spent years studying the effects of climate change on permafrost.
I went kayaking with Mike this summer and he said, rather matter of factly:
"The caribou are dying".
Over the last decade he has watched their populations decline as vegetation changes due to human induced climate change.
And that's why I'm excited to see that momentum is building, and awareness is growing, with actions like California's law suit.
It makes me feel stronger every day that...
We can save our planet and ourselves, I just know it!
Thanks as always for reading and learning with me, if you'd like to take more small steps towards reducing your own emissions, CLICK HERE!
