Robert Paehlke, A\J founder

Robert Paehlke

Robert Paehlke is a professor emeritus at Trent University where he taught environmental policy and politics for 35 years. About 40 years ago, he envisioned a magazine that was both scientifically sound and journalistically interesting, and Alternatives was born. “Bob P,” as we call him, sits on the magazine’s editorial board and he contributes articles and blog posts as often as we can trick him into it.

He is the author of Environmentalism and the Future of Progressive Politics (1989), Democracy’s Dilemma: Environment, Social Equity and the Global Economy (2004), Some Like It Cold: The Politics of Climate Change in Canada (2008) and Hegemony and Global Citizenship (2014).  

Author Articles

The environment has not been so front and center in Canadian politics since the early 1990s. October’s federal election suddenly has three parties (Greens, Liberals and NDP) looking to outdo...
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a key proponent of a New Green Deal

The Green New Deal (GND) has gotten a lot of attention since legislation was proposed in the U.S. Congress in February. The term derives from Roosevelt’s New Deal policies during...
go to farm final

Imagine catching a GO train to see, taste, and pick the best the world grows and prepares all in one place. Imagine picking your own berries and then drinking squeezed...
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Prime Minister Trudeau spoke at a town hall meeting in Peterborough while touring southern Ontario in January. He said: “We can’t shut down the oilsands tomorrow. We need to phase...
George Washington Bridge – Chester Higgins, US EPA

Despite the obvious need to act, moving Canada toward sustainability sometimes seems a hopeless task. One way to combat a sustainability funk is to write a blues song. Another is...

WHEN THE FIRST ISSUE of Alternatives Journal rolled off the presses in 1971, the world was a very different place – politically and technologically. There was a self-conscious political left...

Authors Blog

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The Commission on Conservation, a Canadian government agency, was established in 1909. It was perhaps the earliest forum for business-conservation cooperation. It was a prescient and often thoughtful organization, producing...