Kantar Public, part of an international consulting company, advises on public policy, services and communications. Analysts examined attitudes toward taking climate actions, What they found might be paraphrased as, “We know things need to change but mostly, it’s someone else’s job.”
Norm Farrell
Gwen and I raised three adult children in North Vancouver. Each lives in our community with seven grandchildren, 12 years and younger. I have worked in accounting and financial management and publish IN-SIGHTS.CA with news and commentary about public issuesv.
Contortions of logic and promises
The BC NDP government taxes fossil fuels severely to discourage consumption by citizens. That is an appropriate policy choice but the same government turns around and offers huge public subsidies to producers with the aim of increasing production and leading politicians pretend that is free of environmental harm since the fuels will be burned in places other than British Columbia.
Pension pain pending
Many people think of Canada as one of the more socially advanced countries of the world. That is only partly true.
Humanity’s slow-motion suicide
When I think about infinite growth on a finite planet, overpopulation, inequality, climate breakdown, and the ever-present risk of nuclear annihilation, I recall my science teacher son’s reminder, “Earth will survive; humankind may not.” Certainty is growing that global catastrophes will quicken damage to human well-being, endangering — potentially destroying — modern civilization. But this third rock from the Sun will continue spinning even after humans make it unliveable…
Methane, a clear and present danger
The rich oil and gas industry is willing to damage the Earth and put natural life at risk, if its activity puts money in corporate accounts. Captured governments cooperate with oversight that is non-existent or ineffective, and by extending subsidies worth hundreds of billions of dollars to encourage greater fossil fuel production…
Seth Klein fixed a Fortis letter
Fifteen months ago, writer, researcher and climate activist Seth Klein asked Fortis to stop asking people to undo their good work…
BC NDP donor reluctance
People professing to be former BC NDP supporters say they stopped financial contributions and/or resigned after disagreeing with policies imposed by party leaders. I trust many of these statements are true but wondered if financial reports filed with Elections BC offer evidence of growing NDP donor reluctance…
Inaccurate carbon accounting
Calling bioenergy “carbon-neutral” suggests that emissions are instantaneously offset, when in reality it can take trees decades to absorb all the carbon emitted by burning wood, say critics…
Unprepared, ill-equipped
Despite massive disruption to the entire province, John Horgan’s government has made no change to its policies of promoting fossil fuels with lax regulation and multi-billion dollar industry supports. It continues to employ climate change deniers in senior positions. British Columbia remains North America’s leading coal exporter. The BC NDP has admitted no failures in its current strategies. Instead of substantive policy changes to protect the ecosystem. It seems to believe the only actions needed are saturation advertising campaigns that play fast and loose with the truth.
Organized irresponsibility
For decades, flood risk studies have accumulated on shelves in Victoria. One government after another failed to prioritize actions recommended by experts. Politicians and senior bureaucrats rated other expenditures as more important. Like the $16+ billion dam project on the Peace River, like the $13 billion rewards (present day value) given to benefit fossil fuel producers since 2007, or the $10+ billion above market value paid to private power producers by BC Hydro…
Can we prevent capitalism from destroying the world?
Journalists should pay close attention to Albert Camus because they have a responsibility to raise strong warnings of a potential climate-induced collapse of civilization.
Death throes of democracy
We will wake up to the realization we the voters no longer have the ability to shape our governing bodies through elections. The slippage is abundantly clear already. Big Money has run off with our governing bodies…
COVID-19 dead: 5 million or 20 million?
The official death toll from COVID-19 is about 5 million. According to mortality researchers, the real number is likely closer to 20 million…
Dysfunctional duopoly
Far from being “broken,” our political system is doing precisely what it’s designed to do. It wasn’t built to deliver results in the public interest or to foster policy innovation, nor does it demand accountability for failure to do so. Instead, most of the rules that shape day-to-day behavior and outcomes have been perversely optimized—or even expressly created—by and for the benefit of the entrenched duopoly at the center of our political system…
Megaproject madness; strategic lying at work
One is left to wonder why senior public officials do repeat business with global companies that have a history of delivering not on-time and not on-budget. Perhaps there are reasons not immediately apparent to the public…
Natural gas revenues in BC
The 2017 BC NDP platform promised, “The people of BC must get a fair return for our resources.” The pledge was immediately dropped when the NDP took power…
Corporate media, a propaganda system for elite interests
PoP BC formed after health professionals became concerned about inadequate health policies in BC. Are participants qualified to express opinions different than government officials who balance political issues with health optimization? The answer to that question is a resounding yes.
Sunk costs sinking
BC government is reluctant to reveal information about BC Hydro’s Site C project but news that does emerge is useful to knowledgeable analysts…
Facts seem to support a progressive agenda
David Card’s Nobel Prize carries with it a cash prize of more than C$700,000 but the economist may experience greater satisfaction from credibility the award lends to his findings. Those conclusions challenged conventional wisdom and have been steadily disputed by “useful idiots” of the evil geniuses who control economies of the world.
Planning fallacy
John Horgan’s crew had a truckload of hard hats ready to go when they formed government in 2017 and the last thing they intended to do was alter the controversial Site C project, secret deals BC Hydro had with private power producers, LNG promotion, and science-free facilitation of fracked gas production. Going forward with the status quo would cost tens of billions of dollars in unneeded construction and fossil fuel subsidies. It would also exacerbate extreme events from climate change. But following BC Liberal policies would dull the Official Opposition and silence many right-wing critics. The Premier decided that was smart politics for his party…
IN-SIGHTS 
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