Environment Canada hoax shows group’s distaste for government inaction on climate change

(St John’s, Newfoundland) – September 16 2011 — On September 14, the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition successfully impersonated representatives of Environment Canada by announcing the relaunch of a discontinued climate change education program. What a Difference a Degree Makes, a module delivered to elementary school students during the 1990′s, focused on the science and human impacts of climate change. Through this hoax the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition has highlighted the Canadian Government’s deliberate neglect of its responsibility to educate Canadians about climate change and to take real, effective action on reducing carbon emissions. To remedy the lack of climate education available through the public school system, the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition is launching its own educational campaign, The Wings of Change.

“The government is making an embarrassingly weak effort to prepare youth with the skills and knowledge they need in order to create a sustainable future,” says CYCC member Meghan McCarthy. “The Wings of Change gets students thinking about the causes of climate change, their impacts on humans and their changing environment, and potential solutions. It looks at climate change as a social justice issue, and helps students to link individual actions to collective change.” At the end of each workshop, students are asked to write and draw the world they want to see 20 years in the future onto fabric feathers. These feathers are later assembled into a large bird costume, which will literally carry the dreams of children on its wings.

The CYCC believes that this educational campaign is a critical part of the youth climate movement. “It’s really difficult for a few people to make a big change, particularly when our government is actively ignoring us when we speak out through regular channels,” says McCarthy. “But when we can create a movement of educated critical thinkers demanding climate action in creative and compelling ways, that’s when we’ll see real change. That’s what has motivated me to host Wings of Change workshops here in St. John’s. I want youth in my community to stand up to systems that create climate change, and I want them to fight for their future.”

If you are interested in having a Wings of Change workshop in your/your children’s school, please contact info@ourclimate.ca. To donate to this project, go to smallchangefund.org/projects/wings-of-change/

For comment:
Meghan McCarthy
709-725-5769
meghanemilymccarthy@gmail.com
Canadian Youth Climate Coalition Volunteer