Joe Vipond has worked as an emergency physician in Calgary for fifteen years. In 2013 Dr. Vipond, as a member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, joined a small group of committed individuals in the effort to accelerate the phase out of Alberta coal-fired electricity. A short two years later, in November, 2015, the Alberta Government announced the closure of all 18 plants by 2030, representing forty-four megatonnes of Carbon Dioxide, possibly the single largest climate policy in North America to date. This group now has launched a Canadian Coal Phase Out campaign. Joe grew up in Calgary and continues to live there with his wife and two young daughters.
It's time to distinguish substance from spin on the health risks of coal-fired plants, say doctors from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
Canada has promised the world it will act, and, perhaps for the first time, live up to its international climate commitments. Canadians deserve no less, write Ian Bruce and Joe Vipond.
