Wednesday Oct. 1, 2014 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST INCLUDED
Ripe for the picking Uschi Eder harvests Ortega grapes at the Larch Hills Winery on Sunday, Sept. 28. For more images from the harvesting process, turn to page A3.
EVAN BUHLER/OBSERVER
MP defends environmental record Climate change: Mayes says Harper government policies strike the appropriate balance. By Martha Wickett OBSERVER STAFF
Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes fully supports Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s stance on climate change. Close to 200 people took to the street in Salmon Arm last weekend to urge political leaders to take action on climate change, with a local focus on Harper as well as B.C. Premier Christy Clark. The march was in conjunction with marches around the world that preceded the United Nations Climate Summit in New York City. “Right now, Christy Clark and Stephen Harper are behaving with utter disregard for climate science. This march and rally were testament to widespread feeling that this has to change,” stated Warren Bell, a central organizer of the local march. “Global warm-
ing is accelerating; deserts are activity,” Mayes told the Obexpanding, Arctic ice is melting server, when asked about cliand extreme weather events are mate change. “Because many increasing. The world’s heads of those statements that were of state are beginning to undermade during that time were stand that they need to discuss proved to be not true, such as ways to slow it down, and do so that the glaciers in the Himalanow. So far, our prime minister, yas were going to disappear in Stephen Harper, has only paid five years, they found out that lip-service to global warming, was not factual; that the polar Colin Mayes while strongly supporting tar ice was diminishing and was MEMBER OF sands development and natural going to disappear. Actually it’s PARLIAMENT gas fracking, which will make increased 40 per cent. And that the problem worse.” some of the statements made Mayes disagrees. by Al Gore with regard to the “First of all, it’s interesting that they talk Inconvenient Truth about polar bears is not about climate change instead of global true because the numbers of polar bears are warming, because at one time it was all at an all-time high in the last 20 years. So, about global warming caused by human that’s one issue.
This week City officials earned recognition for an open-for-business civic spirit. See details on A13. An upcoming presentation examines the mystery of crop circles worldwide. See A19.
“But as far as climate change, our government has taken climate change seriously and, in 2012, our greenhouse gas emissions were down 5.1 per cent lower than in 2005.” He said the other issue is that Canada has the cleanest emissions from electricity generation in the world. “And 63 per cent of the electricity generated in this country is from renewable resources. Which is the highest in the G7. And our carbon emissions are only two per cent of all the global carbon emissions. We have spent, I think it’s six billion dollars, on various initiatives to help our greenhouse gas emissions, also to look at making investments in not only cleaner energy but See Turn on page A2
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Life & Times ............... A8 Sports................A15-A18 Arts & Events ... A19-A21 Time Out................... A22 Vol. 107, No. 40, 44 pages