Almost all environmental concerns lead back to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. I mean, of course it all leads back to the climate crisis. Most people can agree that it is primarily caused by human activities such as resource extraction and use and agriculture.
Energy Policy
Environment: On Canada’s Agenda Again
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 each other on environmental concerns. It has been a long time since government in Ottawa made our glaringly obvious environmental […]
Bill C-69: Assessing the impacts
How can I consider myself a “real environmentalist” if I’m not keeping up with the issues and solutions being discussed in the world around me? For me, Twitter and Instagram are often the first place where I find out about current and trending topics in the news. Recently, while browsing […]
The Green New Deal: Our Best Chance on Climate
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 the Great Depression. The Green New Deal, however, addresses today’s two most urgent problems simultaneously: climate change and rising inequality. […]
‘Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming’
This is a book that addresses the climate crisis at its very roots. Editor Paul Hawken, who made his name with such environmental classics as Natural Capitalism and The Ecology of Commerce, says reducing or even halting new greenhouse gas emissions is not enough. At this moment in history we […]
Black Snake in the Grass
There has rarely been a worse time to build pipelines in Canada than now. One wouldn’t surmise this from listening to the business elites of Toronto and Calgary, gung-ho for the newly approved Trans Mountain expansion, Line 3 replacement, and Keystone XL. Yet, economic conditions have changed greatly since the […]
Electrify Everything
If you electrify everything and produce electricity from wind, water, and solar, your power demand goes down 42.5 percent. Most of that is due to the fact that electricity is more efficient than combustion. If I drive a car, the plug-to-wheel efficiency of an electric car is about 80 to […]
Debunking Dams
TFor decades dams have been celebrated by some as an inherently clean form of energy. In British Columbia the Christy Clark government recently dubbed a highly controversial $9-billion mega dam on the Peace River as “the site C Clean Energy Project.”
Census of Community – Sources
Public opinion: – GPC 2015 – http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/results-2015/ – e-recycling – http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=6541 – GMO ban – http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=7006
We, the Movement
Over 21 years of climate change action culminated in December 12th’s historic multilateral agreement. Many will say we have come to a pivotal moment, or to the end of a long road. Some will say it falls short, lacks ambitions and is shameful. Many will say we have failed our frontline […]