The Supreme Court ruled that cumulative effects from decades of industrial development on lands of northeast BC infringed treaty rights of Blueberry River First Nations. I suggest that cumulative effects from decades of industrialization and commercialization on lands of southwest BC infringe on the implicit rights of future generations.
In ten years, seven different cabinet ministers have led Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The department has been a dumping ground or holding area for out-of-favour or inept politicians. Little wonder the […]
Down To Earth, a weekly newsletter from The Guardian, provided information that should distress every person hoping the climate crisis can be improved, or even moderated…
English journalist George Monbiot published a Twitter thread on January 28 that resonates powerfully with me. The contents are reproduced…
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…
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.
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…
Husband, dad and small business owner Sean Wood posted an item on Facebook that is worth our attention. With permission, it is repeated…
The NDP government is blundering on with construction of the Site C hydro dam on unstable ground, despite availability of much lower-cost energy sources. It is the same government that BC’s Auditor General found has not effectively overseen the safety of dams in BC and did not adequately verify or enforce compliance of safety standards…
When John Horgan’s government refuses to deal appropriately with climate change in 2021, it is because they made cold-blooded decisions based on the business of politics. If people of BC are harmed, if the Earth is harmed, they don’t care. They have joyfully experienced the smell of money, and the smell of power.
It says a great deal when a person at the centre of national policy making chooses to leave government to work on the climate crisis. She is silent about the dedication of Canada and its three western provinces to expanded fossil fuel production, including Alberta tar sands bitumen, the the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet…
When an industry is on a path to extinction, private investors exit and governments often step in, spending huge dollars that merely delay the inevitable. We should not allow that to continue happening in Canada.
The origin story of Stand.earth—previously ForestEthics, successor to Clayoquot Rainforest Coalition—illustrates how little has changed in recent decades. NGOs and concerned citizens are ever the underdogs when competing with governments and wealthy corporations in the fight to protect ancient forests.
Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell reported experiencing an “Overview Effect”… He became profoundly aware that each and every atom in the Universe was connected in some way, and on seeing Earth from space he had an understanding that all the humans, animals and systems were a part of the same thing, a synergistic whole.
Dave Borlace opened a YouTube channel in 2018 to review the science behind climate debates and discover what is being done to avoid catastrophe. In the first minute of his first video, Borlace declared he was not a scientist and not a client expert, just a person wanting to learn and share information. Perhaps Borlace’s strength in sharing knowledge about climate and energy is that he is not a scientist. Nor is he a spin doctor paid to advance financial interests of paying clients…
Climate change is no longer deniable: it’s happening, is human caused, and is potentially catastrophic. But denial is still a huge factor that keeps us from doing what we must, for future generations, for the natural world and all the species with which we share creation…
Home buyers make property choices based on municipal zoning and Official Community Plans. Provincially mandated OCPs are “a statement of objectives and policies that guide decisions on municipal and regional district planning and land use management.” However, large-scale land developers see OCPs as minor impediments easily overcome by effective lobbying…
Instead of $60 million, Teck Resources should be paying a fine closer to $1 billion. What Teck has been penalized won’t make a dent in their cash resources. Nor does it resolve the fresh water issues.
Of course, these photographs represent something more to me than a 13 year-old’s regard for the beauty of our world. It represents the hope that the next generation will protect it…
Today, a message from Cedar Isle Farm near Agassis BC landed by email, telling about another effort by real estate developers and their allies in municipal government. The aim is destroy yet more prime farmland. This one is a monster that seems immortal. Locals have thought it dead numerous times in the past 20 years, but it has risen repeatedly…
Among the special advantages granted to billionaires? They can create monopolies which politicians will both subsidize and protect. Are domestic…
You mention investing. Anybody remember Canada Savings Bonds? Seventy years ago it offered people worried about becoming destitute pensioners a…
A huge fan of long-eclipsed Russian military glory, Mr. Putin expected Ukraine to collapse in 3 days. Three years ago.…
One thing I think people forget is - it became a good idea to invest in real estate as an…
in-sights.ca 
Blair Fix at _Economics from the Top Down_ also wrote two very good papers on the converion of housing into…