Wake up! The world is burning! Does anybody care?

"Today . . . we live in a world that is burning, both because of global warming and armed conflicts"

- Pope Leo XIV, July 2025

This summer, Pope Leo spoke out strongly about the threat to our earth and to humanity, as did his predecessor, Pope Francis.  In July, Leo interrupted his two-week summer holiday to issue a stark warning about a world that is burning.  He described the global situation as an "ecological crisis"  

I wish that more world leaders would express a deep concern about climate change and war.  Of course, I don't expect Donald Trump and his followers to express any environmental concerns.  Trump thinks climate change is a hoax and that wind turbines (he calls them "windmills") cause cancer.  He doesn't like wind energy at all.  Nor does he like solar energy.  All he wants to do is cut environmental regulations.  He has tried to dismantle the American wind and solar energy industries.  It is symbolic of Trump's attitude that he's paved over the rose garden at the White House, turning it into a concrete patio.  Remember what Joni Mitchell sang about paving paradise and putting up a parking lot?  

Trump does not support renewable energy.  He prefers fossil fuels.  He likes coal. There has never been an American leader so hostile to environmental protections/  Even Richard Nixon, a Republican, called for the establishment of an Environmental Protection Agency.  With the world burning, this is the worst time possible for someone like Trump to be in the Oval Office.

What has former U.S. Vice President Al Gore been up to lately?  Gore has spoken out strongly about the dangers of climate change.  The 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, chronicled his efforts to alert the public to the dangers of the environmental crisis.  I checked to see what he's been doing these days.  Al Gore is 77 years old now, and he recently attended an event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil called The Climate Reality Project, which focused on political mobilization for climate action.  During his visit to Brazil, Gore stated that America's position on the climate crisis changed depending on whether the Democrats or Republicans held power.  Between 2017 and 2021, Trump withdrew the United States from Paris Agreement and its attempt to limit global warming.  When Joe Biden became president, the United States returned to the agreement, only to withdraw again during Trump's second term.

Al Gore

I read this from the Weather Network yesterday.

B.C. and Alberta roast in late-August heat as records fall, relief out of reach

"The last week of August is turning into a scorcher in Western Canada, with B.C. and Alberta experiencing relentless heat.

Records are falling, wildfires are raging and meteorologists expect that summer-like conditions will persist until September."

Despite the wildfires in her province, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is determined to build more pipelines and lessen environmental restrictions.

It's not just Western Canada and B.C.  Here's a headline from August 24, 2025.

Northwest Ontario Wildfire Update: 28 Active Fires, Thunder Bay Area Sees Elevated Risk

Here in Canada, the federal Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, have no interest in taking measures to combat climate change.   Poilievre was a vocal critic of former PM Justin Trudeau's carbon tax.  Poilievre vociferously opposed the carbon tax, using the slogan "axe the tax."  Public opinion supported Poilievre's stance and it seemed as if the Conservative leader was going to win an easy victory in the federal election.  Suddenly, everything changed.  Trudeau resigned and Mark Carney became the new Liberal leader and prime minister.  Carney still had to face an election.  He knew he couldn't win the election with the unpopular carbon tax hanging over his head, so he immediately cancelled the tax and led a resistance to Trump's tariffs and his threat to make Canada the 51st state.  Carney's Liberal Party won the election.   

Prime Minister Mark Carney

Mark Carney is a former central banker.  He is also a global advocate for climate action.  Given the wildfires in Canada, I wish he would make the environment more of a priority.  I wish he would speak about a green future for Canada and green jobs.  I wish he would make our nation a leader in the sustainability movement.  

Carney is in a difficult situation.  He has to deal with a volatile, unstable, authoritarian U.S. president.  Right-wing conservatives and their leaders such as Poilievre and Daniel Smith, are pressuring him to abandon environmental concerns.  Big Oil wants to drill, baby, drill.  Much of the public is more concerned with inflation and housing.  People are worried about putting food on the table.  They don't want to think about the environment.  Sadly, they can't see the forest for the tress, and the forest is burning.

- Joanne