It’s October 15 and 27 degrees outside, the air is smokey…. October 26 – rain is pouring down and now the Lower Mainland must worry about flash floods because the ground is so dry that water is not being absorbed! What does this mean? Weather extremes due to climate change!
What do these climate scenarios have in common with the NDP? Well, after the announcement of former BC NDP leader John Horgan’s retirement, there has been a shift within the party. A leadership race was held for a new party leader, but unfortunately this race was far from winnable for Anjali Appadurai. Sabotage and unfair are two words that can be used to describe this political competition.
According to NDP insiders, Anjali Appadurai was involved in signing up, “fraudulent membership” and involved in a “Green Party takeover.” These insiders have evolved into lobbyists for a variety of corporate interests, including oil and gas companies. A “Green Party takeover” would be bad news for the lobbyists as the Green Party wants to, “phase out existing oil and gas operations.” Appadurai and, “the number of memberships that [she] brought into the party exceeded that of [the] opponent,” and the NDP party establishment knew that with all her supporters, Appadurai’s opposition, David Eby, would most likely lose. Therefore, the NDP, feeling threatened by her, knowing that she had enough support to perhaps win the leadership race, found a loophole to eliminate her. The NDP’S Electoral Officer, Elizabeth Cull, moved the rules of the leadership race during the campaign. This allowed her investigation to denounce Appadurai. Although the BC NDP say they are promoting a “clean-energy future,” they incriminated a person that could have helped the climate crisis in a much more aggressive fashion.
The air quality is not getting better, neither is global warming and we need a person to step up. She could have been that person, but because of the NDP’s selfish actions she won’t be able to. Anjali Appadurai has an educational background in global politics, climate policy, international law, and has a history of being a climate justice movement leader. Just recently, a Riverside field hockey game was canceled because of the poor air quality. Part of her climate pledge is to, “stop all new oil and gas production [and] phase out all fossil fuel production, export and use by 2023.” Fossil fuels and industry were responsible for 89% of global CO2 emissions in 2018, according to ClientEarth. The production of this harmful fuel is something the people of the NDP have invested in or work for with no intention of stopping. They do not want a cleaner Earth; they want to profit from the continual arrangement with corporations who together use greenwashing tactics to lull people into thinking they are proactively fighting climate change.
Locally, people have felt the effects of inaction, not just Riverside students. Complaints about the smoky air have been more frequent as more wildfires are occurring in our area. Vancouver’s July to October has been the driest in history, which caused drought. Because the land is so dry, the ground is more flammable which allows more fires to catch and spread faster. And when the rain comes, floods are more likely as well.
Anjali Appadurai could be a great climate leader for British Columbia, helping us be more environmentally friendly, but it seems the powers that be in the NDP are afraid of that.
Feature photo courtesy of Daily Hive
In-text photo courtesy of Why air pollution apps may be misleading | CBC News
