22 days til Copenhagen

very very soon World Leaders will meet in Copenhagen to address climate change issues in this world. the Kyoto Accord will need updating and my own country will need to take responsibility for its own share of the mess we've created with our greenhouse gas emissions. you'll find below a letter that i, as well as many in my community, will be sending to my Member of Parliament so that these matters can begin to be addressed. i'm also seriously considering firing this same letter off other MP's and perhaps to the Prime Minister himself.
it should be noted that actual letters carry more weight in caucus as opposed to an email since its more labour intensive to write and send in a letter. my own letter will pretty much look the same as the one i post below.

Proposed Letter to
Pat Martin, MP Winnipeg Centre
892 Sargent Ave
Winnipeg, MB
R3E 0C7

Dear Sir,

I am writing you to urge you to call for immediate federal government action to substantially reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. Scientific evidence indicates that we must reduce these emissions by 25-40% based on 1990 levels before 2020 if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Canada has one of the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Canada is also standing in the way of a meaningful global agreement on reducing these emissions which will diminish the future of our children and our children's children. Other wealthy oil producing northern countries such as Norway have made these commitments. Canada must not be left behind - part of the problem rather than part of the solution. This is not the Canadian way.

I am committing to doing my part. I am personally committing myself to:

1) Walking or using the bus to travel to work rather than using my car (1 tonne/yr CO2).
2) Improving the heating efficiency of my house by at least 25% (1-2 tonnes CO2/yr).
3) Purchasing organic produce (to reduce the use of GHG producing fertilizers)(unknown but substantial).

But this won't be enough. We need Canada wide policies. As my representative in the Federal Government, I urge you to make a similar personal commitment and to insist that Canada become a leader rather than a problem in facing the greatest challenge of this century.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Fergusson