With the climate crisis becoming increasingly urgent, more and more people are looking for ways to plug in to climate action. Please check out our coming events calendar and connect with us to figure out the best way to get involved!
There are currently a handful of different ways that Hamilton 350 is taking action:
Like many other municipalities across Canada and around the world, the City of Hamilton declared a climate emergency in the spring of 2019. Hamilton 350 was one of the local groups pushing for that outcome. But of course there is a long history of governments saying the right words but not taking the right actions when it comes to climate, so one of our current areas of work is keeping an eye on the City and doing what we can to ensure that they take action consistent with their declaration.
A working-group of Hamilton 350 called Elders for Climate Sanity brings together a number of the older adults who participate in our group to reach out and work specifically with older adults in the community. The group has done workshops about the climate crisis with hundreds of seniors already, and has many more scheduled.
Another of our working-groups is focused on pipelines. Along with engaging in solidarity with the pipeline struggles in British Columbia, particularly in support of the Indigenous land defenders on the front lines, we are also active around local pipeline projects. This includes an initiative by Imperial Oil to replace a pipeline used primarily to deliver jet fuel to Pearson Airport in Toronto, which runs through a portion of rural Hamilton. And most recently, it includes a proposal by Enbridge to construct in rural Hamilton an entirely new pipeline which will be part of their network that transports fracked gas from the United States.
The climate crisis are taking a significant emotional toll on those of us who recognize its magnitude. That is why, since early 2018, we have regularly held "listening and sharing" sessions. These are opportunities for people to talk about the crisis and about how they feel in a carefully facilitated environment that is not about debate or discussion, but about listening and mutual support. Both veteran climate activists and people new to the issue have found these sessions to be very useful. Please feel free to attend!