Writer’s festival takes a green turn By MATTHEW HARRISON
for Metro Ottawa Kyoto? Sorry, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t speak much Japanese these days, probably because he’s too busy slashing environmental programs and scaling back Kyoto Protocol commitments. But maybe Harper knows this one: sayonara. It’s Japanese for ‘goodbye’ and if many of the world’s scientists are correct in their assessment of global warming, then we don’t have long to say our farewells. But maybe they’re wrong? Not so, says renowned Australian author and scientist Tim Flannery, in a recent chat with Metro. “There is no one in a credible position who doubts those basic facts. You’ll get plenty of debate about a particular change in weather pattern or a decline in a particular species, but the overall picture is clear,” he says. Flannery’s recent non-fiction work The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth delivers a sobering synopsis of the catastrophe Earth faces if human activity, particularly our fossil fuel consumption, doesn’t soon change. He cites recent devastation to the Arctic’s ecosystem, starving whales and the disturbing change to British Columbia’s Cassin’s Auklets — little sea birds that nest around the Queen Charlotte Islands. “They discovered that in its largest colony, about a million birds, there wasn’t a single chick raised this year,” he says, citing a decline in the little bird’s food source. It’s a sobering thought that, along with the past year’s devastating weather, makes this Earth Day particularly significant — at least to organizers of the Ottawa Writer’s Fest who, for their spring edition, have gathered some of the literary world’s most educated writers to discuss climate change, including Flannery. “This festival is an opportunity to come together and ask, ‘What the hell is going on?’” co-founder and organizer Sean Wilson says of the festival, which marks its 10th anniversary this year. “That’s the great thing … there are no barriers. It’s an intimate chance to ask questions of the people who are the best in their fields, and the dialogue continues on into the night over beer and good food,” Wilson adds. While festival-goers may not be debating the cause of climate change, they most certainly will discuss solutions. “Basically this problem is an air pollution problem and we know how to fix it. Make the polluters pay. That fixes it every time. “It’s just a matter of gaining the political and social will to do that,” Flannery says. Celebrate this Earth Day on Saturday at the Ottawa Writer’s Fest at Library and Archives Canada with Flannery at noon, and authors Karsten Heuer, Fred Pearce, Wayne Grady, Terry Glavin, and Elizabeth May throughout the rest of the day. For more information, visit writersfest.com on the Internet. E-mail Metro entertainment writer Matthew Harrison at matthew.harrison@metronews.ca |