The U.S. National Weather Service has long maintained the tradition of giving names to hurricanes, but in Toronto, the environmental organization Greenpeace is taking matters one step further by naming excessively smoggy days after national politicians. The program is designed to call attention to the failure of the Canadian government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and shame politicians into action. The naming kicked off yesterday with Smog Day Augustine, named after Parliament Member Jean Augustine, who “for nine years … has taken Toronto’s votes but done nothing to clean Toronto’s air,” said Greenpeace Executive Director Peter Tabuns. Tabuns would not say which Canadian politician will be (dis)honored next.
