Canada could be sustainable within a generation

Politicians often complain that I'm too hard on them. "You don't understand," they say. "We have all these competing interests we have to address. We can't just focus on the environment. We've got health care, the economy, and all these other problems to worry about."

And that makes me mad. Because it shows that they really aren't listening — not only to environmental groups, but also to scientists, health care organizations, municipalities, city planners, and others. Many of these groups have long recognized that the health of our country as a whole, let alone the economy, depends on the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the communities we live in, and our ability to get around.

In spite of the efforts of these organizations, many politicians and business leaders continue to spout the old "environment versus economy" mantra as justification for poor environmental practices.

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