Friday, November 29, 2019

We join Thunder Bay kids' climate strike

Thunder Bay students, just like others around the globe, are holding climate action demonstrations on Fridays. They are walking out of school saying there is little reason to plan for the future when there isn't going to be one unless we all take climate action.
So Brenda and I and several of our friends joined their protest today. We found the students' speeches to be profound and their protest signs witty.
They want the City of Thunder Bay to declare a climate emergency and to start taking immediate measures. And they want the provincial and federal governments to do likewise. But they said they recognized the most significant action will come from individuals making wise climate choices.
We signed a petition to be taken to Thunder Bay City Council. A table of volunteers asked us to write about things we have seen that give us hope. I wrote about the photo I took below. The Canadian Tire store on Arthur Street has installed five Tesla EV chargers. That act probably doubled the number of commercial EV chargers in the city.
Another hopeful sign is that one of the Petro-Canada filling stations in town has installed an EV charger as part of the company's plan to build an "Electric Highway" across Canada. The Valhalla Inn in town also has an EV charger. So does the CAA (Canadian Automobile Association) office.
It's happening; businesses are awakening to the change that is coming.
Our next vehicle will be an EV. We will probably use it almost exclusively for commuting to Thunder Bay from Nolalu, at least until the "Electric Highway" of chargers everywhere is completed. But that purchase is going to need to wait until we finish paying for the internal combustion auto we now own. I suspect a whole bunch of people are just like us. In a couple of years there will be a quantum shift to EVs.
That is something that individuals can do.
Canadian Tire on Arthur Street, Thunder Bay

1 comment:

Dan Baughman said...

I happened to be at Canadian Tire today while an electrician was connecting the Tesla chargers. I asked him if they would also charge other companies' EVs and he said no. The Tesla chargers are also wired to the Internet and in constant contact with Tesla cars, he explained. The cars automatically tell drivers where the nearest chargers are located and if they are available.

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