by Paul Strome Most people who live in a ‘free country’ like Canada believe they have the right to a healthy environment. We feel we are entitled to all that is imbedded in that philosophy – clean water, fresh air, healthy food, etc. Those of us who live in a rural setting (18% as of… Continue reading What Will It Take for Governments to Act?
Tag: greenhouse gases
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells Penguin Random House LLC | 2019 | 320 Pages Climate change has become a significant rallying point for the global environmental movement. In Canada in 2018 there were 87 listed environmental groups and non-governmental organizations (among them the David Suzuki Foundation) who devoted substantial portions of their time… Continue reading The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
THE END IS NIGH
by Stan Hirst It has never been said better than by Carl Sagan in his speech at Cornell University in 1994. “…… you see a dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys… Continue reading THE END IS NIGH
Canada’s environmental performance: cause for concern?
by Stan Hirst During the run-up to the 2015 Canadian federal elections a total of 164,704 respondents reacted to the simple online question “What issue is most important to you in this election?“. The largest proportion of respondents (36%) said “economy”. The next largest proportion (11%) said “environment”. The remaining issues cited were “health” (11%),… Continue reading Canada’s environmental performance: cause for concern?
U.N. call for global action on climate change
On 10 September 2018, António Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, made a major address to warn of the global threat posed by climate change and to point to the massive benefits that climate action could and should generate. He called on political and business leaders to take up the challenge and expressed hope… Continue reading U.N. call for global action on climate change
In Defence of Pick-up Trucks
by Stan Hirst In a recent post on the DSF website David Suzuki commented on the persistent rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rates in the North American transportation sector and the role of pickup trucks and SUVs in that phenomenon. The background to his post is the fact that transportation currently accounts for about… Continue reading In Defence of Pick-up Trucks
Dear Premier Notley
It is our pleasure as British Columbians to welcome you to Vancouver this coming week. We understand you have come to our fair city to address the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on the merits of the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline project. We must apologize for our weather; it is a bit dark and damp… Continue reading Dear Premier Notley
Looking for Hope in a Hopeless World
by Jim Stephenson Earth Day Sermon 2017, Unitarian Church of Vancouver Earthly prospects seem less hopeful in 2017 than on previous Earth Days. The window of opportunity for an orderly transition off fossil fuels is rapidly closing, and recent election results offer little promise of timely action. The whole idea that our species has and… Continue reading Looking for Hope in a Hopeless World
So that’s a “NO” then?
by Simon Wheeler The Premier of B.C. announced the British Columbia government’s climate action plan in Richmond on 19 August 2016. Late on a hot Friday afternoon last week the BC Provincial Government released their long awaited and much delayed Climate Leadership Plan. It was as though they wanted to bury this document to avoid… Continue reading So that’s a “NO” then?
The pros and cons of nuclear power versus coal
by Peggy Olive In an ideal world, inexpensive, reliable, and safe sources of green energy would abound, and we could avoid using energy derived from either nuclear fission or coal burning. But we’re not there yet, and with climate change already affecting life on our planet, most of us believe that we need to move… Continue reading The pros and cons of nuclear power versus coal