Column: Women's rights can help solve world's woes
What’s the top solution for resolving the human-caused climate crisis? According to Paul Hawken, it’s educating girls and improving family planning. Hawken is the author of Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. “Drawdown” is “the point at which levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere...
Experts say Senate changes to environmental assessment bill are worse than Harper-era legislation
Following intensive lobbying by the oil and gas industry, the unelected Canadian Senate has approved more than 180 controversial amendments to Bill C-69. Experts describe the amendments as incoherent, badly drafted and an attempt to dodge climate change considerations. By Sarah Cox, for The Narwhal Alberta Premier Jason Kenney...
Opinion: Nuclear Power is not the Answer in a Time of Climate Crisis
By Heidi Hutner and Erica Cirino; from Aeon In November 2018, the Woolsey Fire scorched nearly 100,000 acres of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, destroying forests, fields and more than 1,500 structures, and forcing the evacuation of nearly 300,000 people over 14 days. It burned so viciously that it seared a scar into the ...
Stung by derailed negotiations with B.C., Blueberry River First Nations return to court
Three-quarters of the nation's territory lies within 250 metres of an industrial disturbance. A potentially precedent-setting court case on this 'death by a thousand cuts' could disrupt B.C.'s multi-billion dollar natural gas industry. By Christopher Pollon, for The Narwhal After almost a year of negotiations...
Will Rossland Reduce Plastics? (Updated re time!)
Rossland Reduces Plastics is the name of a group of residents concerned about the huge problem of plastic pollution; it’s a global crisis, approaching the magnitude of the climate crisis. Members of this group are working to reduce Rossland’s contributions to the crisis. They hope that Rosslanders will turn out in force at...
Column: True leaders work for us, not the fossil fuel industry
Some politicians believe protecting a sunset industry’s interests is more important than looking out for the citizens who elected them. In Australia, the coal industry holds sway over government policy. In Canada, bitumen and fracked gas rule. In the U.S., it’s all of the above. Fortunately, many people, especially youth, are...
Editorial: The value and the danger of “Climate Change Adaptation” programs
Readers may well wonder about the “danger” mentioned in this headline. The value of climate change adaptation is obvious to the well-informed: it will help willing residents and their communities better survive the extremes that climate change is bringing. Better water conservation can prepare communities for longer, more ...
Why Words Matter When We Talk About Addiction
Ed. note: The following is a press release issued by Toward The Heart, the harm reduction arm of the BC Centre for Disease Control: Words and language matter – especially for people who use substances. The terms we use to describe people who use drugs and the conditions associated with drug use can play either a supportive ...
Editorial: Where does our plastic stuff go from here?
We’ve heard a lot recently about the appalling amount of plastic waste being dumped into the world’s oceans and other waterways, and how plastic particles (both micro and macro) are killing off many animals that live and feed in and around the oceans. Are we in the Kootenays contributing to that, I wondered? I phoned up the...
One River: Ethics Matter Conference, May 30 - 31
Advancing environmental justice and stewardship in the Columbia River Basin is the focus of a conference in late-May that will bring together those interested in pushing for a brighter future on both sides of the Canada-United States border. Selkirk College and the Community Colleges of Spokane are hosting the One River:...
