After listening to executive director of Pollution Probe Ken Ogilvie speak on climate change: end of civilization or economic renaissance, the Canadian Club of Halton Peel members and guests were full of questions.

Why isn't the government doing more? What does the public need to do? Why don't we follow through with environmental studies? Why is Canada so behind the rest of the world in curbing emissions?

"I hope gas goes to $10 a litre, because that'll be the tipping point," said one man, whose comment earned applause.

That kind of passion for the planet caught Ogilvie's attention.

"People are angry, which is good," he said. "If this is a representation of what Oakville has to offer, we should just let you guys loose."

The key to bringing the environmental change Pollution Probe works toward, Ogilvie noted, is exactly what he saw in the crowd.

"The public has to rally around the issue for us to have a real impact," he said. "At the end of the day, the people have to exert the power. If we don't have the support of the public, we're not going anywhere."

Ogilvie joined Pollution Probe in 1995 after two years as executive coordinator of the Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy.

The charitable organization works to offer solutions to protect the health of Canadians by promoting clean air and water, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency.

One of Pollution Probe's targets to ensure the solutions are carried through, Ogilvie said, is government.

"Government has tremendous powers to turn things around, but it's not exercising anywhere near the degree of power it should," he said. "Environment, unfortunately, is not the number one priority of the government."

This discussion came after a speech Ogilvie called "gloomy and depressing."

He began with the impact of climate change - higher frequency of droughts, loss of wetlands, escalating global temperature, change in migration patterns, heat waves and the melting of glaciers.

"We're already seeing some changes along the lines of what we're to expect with climate change," said Ogilvie. "It's going to get worse before it gets better."

And a lot of damage has already been done.

The world has lost half of its wetlands. Twenty per cent of fresh water species are either extinct or endangered. The amount of water we're using is escalating dramatically every year.

These are some of the "gloomy global figures" Ogilvie was citing. The Canadian picture is particularly bleak.

The country is ranked second in the world for per capita water consumption, he said. Canada is ninth for energy consumption and third for emissions of carbon dioxide, both per capita.

Perhaps the only bright part of Ogilvie's speech was this: saving the environment can cause economic prosperity.

Germany is a prime example of that, having become the leading producer of solar energy. The country produces three quarters of the world's solar panels, an industry that has created about a million jobs.

"Germany has a vision, and they've created an enormous business out of this," Ogilvie said. "This vision has environmental benefits, not just for Germany, but for the world as a whole."

Canada's problem, Ogilvie contends, is "it lacks a clear vision of where our energy future lies."

While the options to save energy are endless, Ogilvie says the provinces aren't working together to come up with a collective game plan.

"We seem to have a fierce determination not to work together as a nation," he said. "Other countries made these decisions years ago. The ship has already left. The other countries are already moving, and we're way, way, behind."

Ogilvie's main message: the work ahead is enormous, and if we don't tackle it now, it's only going to get worse.

"The cost of action is far less than the cost of inaction on the environment," he said, citing that 5 per cent of the world's GDP could be reduced each year "now and forever" if things continue as they are.

Ogilvie sees the keys to change lie in investing in infrastructure like roads, bridges and paths, and embracing some of the technology that's being offered to curb emissions and save energy.

"I'm amazed at the things that are out there, they're offering great hope, they're good for efficiency," he said. "We already have amazing ideas that we're not even putting on the market."

These numbers and facts, Ogilvie recognized, aren't exactly uplifting.

"I hope I'm not depressing you," he said, "but it is a little depressing when you see how fast the climate is changing, how slowly Canada is moving and how quickly some of the other nations are moving."