Rob Shirkey, a Toronto-based lawyer turned activist, recently left his law practice to launch
Our Horizon, a federally-incorporated not-for-profit organization dedicated to addressing climate change.
And while, as Shirkey notes, "climate change is among the biggest, if not the biggest, challenges of our time," the idea he's advocating is simple, inexpensive, and locally driven.
The idea: climate change warning labels.
The goal, says Shirkey, is to have a law passed that mandates labels warning of the dangers of climate change on every gas pump nozzle at every gas station. Like the warnings on cigarette packages, the climate change labels are meant to get people to pause, to take stock of the choices they're making and to consider other alternatives.
"We like to think that the responsibility for combating climate change lies only with the oil companies, with the tar sands," says Shirkey. "But it's also us, the consumers, that are contributing.
"The warning labels are meant to put some responsibility into peoples hands."
The warning labels, as Shirkey envisions them, would combine text and visuals to remind motorists of the qualitative effects of climate change (prototypes created by Shirkey and a graphic designer are at
ourhoizon.com).
"We tend to focus so much on cost when we think about climate change. But it's also important to remember that things like species extinction or ocean acidification or human life can't really be quantified in that way (despite economists best efforts). That's what the labels would show people."
The result, he anticipates, will be not only reduced consumption but, more significantly a shift in our collective demand "that will facilitate meaningful action on climate change."
The first step, says Shirkey, is to build local momentum. If it's going to take-off, he says, it will have to start with the muncipalities.
After a cross-Canada trip advocating for the labels, Shirkey is back in Ontario working with his volunteers to leverage the upcoming municipal elections. Our Horizon has developed it's own advocacy kit (available on their website) as well a database with the contact information of every single municipal representative in the country.
"We know this idea is controversial, and the oil companies in particular won't like it," Shirkey adds. "But we're hoping that if it builds local momentum, one city or community at a time, it will just keep growing. I think it's really important that this is made a municipal issue, because that's really the level where we have the most access to government and this will have to be a citizen driven policy."
Moreover, as Shikey adds, municipalities can use their licensing powers to require gasoline retailers to place the warning labels on their gas pumps.
In the months leading up to the elections, Shirkey and his volunteers hope to get firm commitments from city councilors to look into the idea.
"All we really want at this stage is a commitment to exploring the project, to get city staff to look at the issue. I think that's a commitment that a lot of councillors could make. And what I've found is that as soon a few are on board, more and more become interested, they always want to know who else is doing it. So the plan, in addition to reaching out to councilors, is to build a website where we track whoever has committed to exploring the idea."
Shirkey's idea has already received a number of endorsements from the NGO and academic community.
"We all share responsibly for climate change and these labels can help people connect the dots, to face that reality, to get them to start demanding alternatives."
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Rob Shirkey, Executive DirectorOur Horizon