Seniors at Earth Day event worried the environment has taken a back seat this federal election campaign

Climate takes a back seat?

The turnout to a Kelowna screening of a new climate action documentary was a reflection of how much attention environmental issues are getting during the current federal election campaign.

Only about a dozen people showed up to watch Later is Too Late, which highlights the actions of elders across the country who rallied in 76 communities on the first-ever National Seniors’ Day for Climate Action. Those in attendance are worried economic issues are pushing aside the climate.

“We have a chance now to decide. Do we want more fossil fuels or do we want to transition off?” asked Cathay Gibson, a representative of Kelowna Seniors for Climate, which hosted the screening at the downtown Kelowna library on Tuesday, also Earth Day.

Gibson said this is a window of opportunity. “So do we act now and do we ask for this transition as people and seniors, or do we fall back on austerity, on Trump’s war.”

Marnie Melnyk and her husband travelled from Vernon to watch Later is Too Late. Her son has been a climate activist for years. She’s worried about the direction we appear to be headed in.

“We can’t bring back plastic straws. We can’t do ‘burn, burn, burn’, ‘dig, dig, dig’. We need to do a non-Trump approach and protect our environment,” said Melnyk.

One of the people featured in the documentary is a woman who lost her home in the Jasper Wildfire. Despite the impact of fires in the Okanagan in recent years, the climate has not been much of a talking point for candidates.

“I think people think about today. We don’t think about five, 10 years from now. We need to change that,” Melnyk said, noting that several fires have already started in B.C. this spring and it’s only April.

Gibson said that whoever forms the next government should prevent an escalation of the trade war with the U.S. by presenting another option, a clean energy economy that could create thousands of new jobs.

She’s hoping watching Later is Too Late will help people feel less helpless and hopeless and spur them to do their part for the environment and future generations.

Going into the 2019 federal election, climate change was ranked as a top priority in public polling. In the run up to this federal election, polling has shown that the environment now sits behind just about every other issue on the mind of voters.