Environmentalist David Suzuki says 'pipelines will be blown up' if climate change isn't tackled
Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki is facing widespread criticism after he said during a protest Saturday that 'there are gonna be pipelines blown up' if leaders don't address . The event, dubbed a 'Funeral for the Future,' was held in downtown Victoria, British Columbia just days after the conference in Scotland, which protesters say failed to meaningfully address rising temperatures and other climate issues. British Columbia is battling extreme weather like rainstorms and mudslides that continue to drive up property losses, with the Insurance Bureau of calling it 'a real wake-up call that climate change isn't some future threat.' 'We're in deep, deep doo-doo,' Suzuki, 85, told a reporter. 'And they've been telling us, the leading experts for over 40 years. 'This is what we're come to. The next stage after this, there are gonna be pipelines blown up if our leaders don't pay attention to what's going on.' Suzuki, who was a professor at the genetics department of the University of British Columbia for nearly 40 years, later clarified that he was not condoning violence. 'Of course not,' Suzuki said, according to Canadian newspaper . 'The violence is coming from the authorities, from government, from the [Royal Canadian Mounted Police],' he said. 'Theyre declaring war against those that are protesting.' 'I think it's going to be threatened by groups that feel government isn't going anything,' Suzuki said. On Monday, two journalists who were arrested while covering Indigenous protests against British Columbia pipelines on Friday were freed on bail. The arrest of photographer Amber Bracken and filmmaker Michael Toledano drew backlash from press groups and British Columbia Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth. They were arrested along with with 13 protesters who were demonstrating against a pipeline being built in the remote region of British Columbia to a ship terminal that is being developed by major companies including Shell, Petronas and PetroChina, according to the . The pipeline is more than halfway finished, the Associated Press reports. Suzuki has been a climate activist for decades, urging leaders and the public to take action to mitigate its effects on sea level rise and the future of human civilization. Scientific consensus on global warning is overwhelming. 'Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree : Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities,' according to . By Monday, local and national political leaders had condemned Suzuki's dicey words. 'This type of rhetoric is dangerous and undemocratic,' tweeted Erin O'Toole, the head of the Conservative Party of Canada. 'It implies that energy workers and infrastructure should be targets for acts of terrorism. All political leaders should unreservedly condemn this statement. ' The premier of Alberta, the province next to British Columbia, also hit out at Suzuki. 'This incitement to violence by David Suzuki is dangerous, and should be condemned universally,' Jason Kenney tweeted Monday. 'In Canada we resolve our differences peacefully and democratically, not with threats of terrorism or acts of violence.' Violence like the kind suggested by Suzuki is not uncommon. In 2000, eco-warrior Weibo Ludwig was convicted of bombing a Suncor well in 1998 in Alberta. 'If the oil companies run roughshod over your lives, you have to take defensive action against them, whatever is necessary,' Ludwig said after two wells near his home were blown up in 1997, the National Post reports. 'You cant just let them kill your children.' Even Suzuki's own foundation has distanced itself from his founder, tweeting that its founder 'speaks on his own behalf not for the David Suzuki Foundation. 'David Suzuki has been predicting environmental consequences for decades. Similarly, this comment was a predictive reflection on the escalating stakes and potential for conflict due to the effects of human-caused climate change.' Protesters at Friday's rally in Victoria held signs reading, 'system change not climate change,' and, 'Greta tried to tell us!!' referring to Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg. British Columbia has been experiencing extreme weather events, with some blaming the storms on climate change. 'We opened the year with some severe storms, had the heat dome, really devastating wildfires, and now we've had this,' said Aaron Sutherland, vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada's Pacific region, referring to the previous week's rainstorms, flooding and mudslides. 'It should be a real wake-up call that climate change isnt some future threat. It is a clear and present danger that's increasingly impacting all of us today.'