Which federal politicians recognize environmental rights? Time to find out
VANCOUVER—Over the past four years, a movement has been quietly yet steadily sweeping across Canada. As of today, 172 municipalities—representing about half of Canada’s population—have passed declarations recognizing their citizens’ right to a healthy environment. This has been accomplished thanks to the local efforts of scores of volunteers who have organized locally to demand these […]
Boreal ‘refuges’ key to songbird survival as climate changes
Billions of birds are right now flying south from Canada’s Boreal forest to wintering grounds from the U.S. to South America. While this incredible flow of life washes across our continent, news continues to spread of how climate change imperils birds and indeed all life on Earth. It can make the most stout-hearted feel hopeless. […]
Sustainable aviation fuels could soon be a commercial reality in Canada
The world’s airlines have been experiencing a historic run in recent years. Thanks to surging demand and the big drop in oil prices in 2014 global industry profits reached a record high of US$38-billion in 2017. Canadian airlines have been part of this trend, with industry profitability rising to a record $1.7-billion last year. Since […]
Large gaps, questions remain in federal support for research
For many years, Canadian researchers have seen a gradual, but significant decline, in funding from the federal government. For example, from 2013 to 2015, Canada’s average investment in research was 1.6 per cent of GDP, compared to a G7 average of 2.3 per cent. The 2017 Naylor Report found that Canada is falling behind on […]
How to get skeptical Canadians to support a carbon tax
OTTAWA—It was an unseasonably warm few days in Ottawa last week. Coming on the heels of hurricanes in Florida, the tornadoes that devastated the National Capital Region a few weeks ago, wildfires in British Columbia, and an early snowfall in Calgary, the warnings of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) seemed particularly pertinent. If […]
Experts, critics urge feds to ‘ratchet up’ climate change efforts, seize the political leadership, after ‘landmark’ UN report
Last week’s UN report detailing the devastating and irreversible impacts of climate change, which the world is on track to see by 2030, underscores the urgent need for Canada to “ratchet up” its efforts and targets, say experts and critics, who also say the government should drop its pursuit of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. […]
Canada’s political leaders fiddle, while the planet sizzles
CHELSEA, QUE.—In the wake of that frightening, if familiar, UN report on the increasingly dire consequences of climate change—along with monthly reports of unusually intense hurricanes, floods, fires, and tornadoes—Canada’s political class is retreating from any sustained effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions faster than a melting glacier. The federal Liberals, self-described champions of climate […]
Senate to decide if environmental protection is legitimate in the Anthropocene
TORONTO—The signs may have never been clearer. Scientists are concerned about mass extinctions taking place the world over. Ecological economists are suggesting that half the Earth be preserved for nature’s crucial life support systems. International climate scientists are suggesting we have just over 10 years to drive “unprecedented action” on human induced climate change. In […]
Shouldn’t the polluters pay a little bit more? Garfield Marks wants to know
It costs $73/tonne to toss out my coffee cup. That is the cost of taking solid waste to the waste management site. It costs about $40 per month for my waste water to get treated and dumped into the river. Would it not be cheaper to just burn my solid waste in the back yard […]
Media should be informing society about UN climate report: British Columbia reader
As guardians of the media and purveyors of the truth, I beseech you to read The Guardian’s coverage, “World leaders ‘have moral obligation to act’ after UN climate report,” (Oct. 8). It is up to the media to let its readers and listeners know what is happening in the world in which we live. Please […]
