Grandmother Launches Climate Crisis Journey

Grandmother Launches Climate Crisis Journey

Salt Spring Island, B.C.: 75 year old Grandmother Dorothy Cutting leaves July 1st on a Climate Crisis journey to Northern Canada.

Most grandmothers of four are looking forward to a summer by the lake watching the kids grow and maybe doing a little babysitting but not Dorothy Cutting. This 75 year old grandmother is worried about the kind of future her grandkids will have if she doesn’t do something about global warming which she calls global heating. “Warming sounds too soft and cuddly,” she says. "I want our neighbours in the North to know that we care about what is happening to their homeland and their way of life," says Cutting, who will travel to Inuvik in her Honda Civic Hybrid and then fly to Tuktoyaktuk and Old Crow.

In 2002 after reading the late Robert Hunter’s book, "2030: Confronting Thermageddon in Our Lifetime”, Cutting was shocked and wasn’t aware until then of the danger to our Planet. Determined to draw attention to “global heating” she went out and bought a hybrid car and drove across Canada to present a copy of the book to every Member of Parliament. All along the way Dorothy spoke to Canadians about the need to take climate change seriously.

Sierra Club of Canada, co-sponsored Dorothy’s 2002 journey, and is with her again this year. “We see Dorothy’s trip as another way to get the message out about global heating and the melting of the polar ice cap. Dorothy’s courage and passion for future generations is inspiring. She knows we must act now to avoid an impending catastrophe and reverse the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” said Stephen Hazell, Executive Director, Sierra Club of Canada.

As global heating melts the polar icecap, Canada’s northern peoples face the disruption of their food sources and cultural systems. Habitat for northern species is under threat, and researchers predict that polar bears will become extinct by 2025 if global heating continues unabated. As NASA scientist James Hansen says they will, in effect, “be pushed off the planet”. “Canada’s North is experiencing some of the most rapid warming in the world. The effects of this warming have serious consequences for the rest of the planet,” says Michael Westlake, Coordinator for the Northern Climate ExChange. “We see Dorothy's journey as a way to connect the people of the North and South to the reality of this enormous issue.”

Noted Filmmaker Alan Bibby of Salt Spring Island plans to make a documentary of Cutting's travels, and Dorothy will be carrying a small camcorder to record interviews with people in the First Nations and Inuit communities.

“While people and wildlife in the Arctic will experience the largest effects of climate change, as sea ice melts so too do the planet's glaciers and ice sheets. The inevitable rise in sea level will affect every coastal community and city worldwide. Dorothy's actions are reminding us we must all act now to minimize these changes,” stated Colin Campbell, Marine Campaign Coordinator at the BC Chapter of the Sierra Club. “Our civilization is headed full steam ahead towards catastrophe, so we need to make turning it around our top priority. This is my way of contributing to that turn-around, this is an act of hope,” Cutting added.

A send-off event for Cutting will take place Thursday June 29 at Cinema Central on Salt Spring Island. The film, “Too Hot Not to Handle” will be shown at 7 PM, followed by a brief discussion and send-off gathering. This is a carbon neutral journey. All emissions emitted during Cutting’s and Bibby’s travel by car and by air have been off-set by contributing to investment in renewable and conservation initiatives. Cutting, who until 1998 kept her married name of Morrell, is considered the mother of the Washington State Shorelines Management Act and was influential in the passage of numerous other environmental bills. She immigrated to Canada from Seattle, Washington in 1992 and became a Canadian citizen in 1998.

While living in Washington, she served on the Board of the Washington Environmental Council and was a registered citizen lobbyist for 11 years. She has four grandchildren.

Information: www.dorothycutting.ca

Contact:To speak with Dorothy contact Sierra Club of Canada: Andrew Dumbrille, 613-862-1852Sierra Club of Canada BC Chapter: Colin Campbell, 250-361-6476Northern Climate Exchange: Katharine Sandiford, 867-668-8874Salt Spring Island: Jan Slakov, 250-537-5251