By Chris Gusen 2020 was tough. But, as we look back on the past year, it also brings us a tremendous amount of hope. Seeing how the world mobilized to fight COVID-19 gave us a glimpse of what might be possible if our elected officials treated the climate emergency just as seriously. As we rest up and prepare to continue our...

By David Huntley; republished with permission from Watershed Sentinel The Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline is being built to transport Alberta’s diluted bitumen to tidewater and then by tanker to overseas markets. In 2011, the National Energy Board gave Trans Mountain priority access for 79,000 barrels of oil per day...

In the middle of the pandemic’s second wave and with the holidays fast approaching, many Canadians are still struggling to figure out how they’ll get through these tough times. Last week we saw two examples of how the government’s priorities are hurting many low-income, self-employed Canadians while letting large corporations...

Old-growth forest in BC with large, old, large trees is becoming rare; according to an independent study released in June, 2020, there is a much smaller amount remaining of the old-growth forest that contains large, old trees than the BC government admits.  “We’re talking a tiny fraction of a fraction....

By Jacob Stegenga, in aeon magazine Numerous criticisms of medical science have been articulated in recent years. Some critics argue that spurious disease categories are being invented, and existing disease categories expanded, for the aim of profit. Others say that the benefits of most new drugs are minimal and typically...

Wondering what’s happening with the Ski Bus service this year? The ski bus – also known as the ski shuttle – is partially funded by the Resort Municipality (RMI) funding that Rossland receives, and some of its benefits are recognized in Rossland’s RMI strategy document:  “The service alleviates...

Ottawa’s latest climate plan bets on expensive and unproven carbon capture technologies   By Burgess Langshaw Power, from The Conversation    Last week, the federal government released its long awaited plan to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Bill C-12, if passed, commits...

What we refer to as “plastic” hasn’t been around for long. But its usefulness has caused production to skyrocket — from about two million tonnes in 1950 to almost 400 million tonnes a year now, and rising steadily. It’s a problem. Although much of it can be recycled, most isn’t. That’s led many local and national governments...

By Scott B. Rankin and Angus J. Duff, for The Conversation A growing number of people are redefining what “home” looks like. For many of them, it looks like a van. The trend to #vanlife is fuelled by the declining affordability of homes, rental shortages in urban centres and resort communities, and by a shift in our definition...

COVID-19 has delayed the Environmental Assessment Office’s work on establishing regulations for regional assessments, which will look at the cumulative effects of all past, present and future industrial projects By Matt Simmons, for The Narwhal At first glance, northwest B.C. is a vast wild landscape home to big forests, even...