Cycling in Waterloo Region

[danbrotherston]

As others have noted, air pollution isn't a local problem, so focusing on local figures is probably counterproductive.

Not that the fight against GHG emissions can't be fought on multiple fronts, but the resources needed to bring lasting and significant changes to transportation patterns are huge compared to cleaning up emissions related to oil sands production, for example, while the impact on emissions is probably on a similar scale.

The reason for looking at local figures is to inform what our local governments can do. The oil sands aren't in the region, and our local governments can do little to change those emissions.  Our local governments can change emissions here, which is why knowing that transportation is the biggest emitter locally is useful.

I also disagree that the resources needed to clean up the oil sands are that much smaller than changing our transportation patterns.  I'd argue one of the things that would need to be done to change the oil sands *is* change our transportation patterns.  But that's not really something I can adequately back up with evidence, it's more of an opinion.