Column: Government support for electric vehicles drives down emissions
Electric vehicles won’t save us from runaway climate change, but they’re part of the solution, along with support for public transit and active transport like waking and cycling. The transportation sector accounts for almost one-quarter of the world’s carbon emissions, so it’s an area where change is necessary and possible....
Editorial: Burning Issues
“Everything will burn, baby, burn . . .”– if we don’t take a bit of time and effort to make it as fire-resistant as possible. These words from the 2001 song by Ash can remind us about the increasing risk of wildfire consuming forests, and overwhelming communities full of homes and businesses. Local wildfire expert Don Mortimer...
Column: Will Someone Please Tell me . . .
Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on? Last October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report indicating that global emissions are still rising despite more than three decades of warnings. Now we’re on a path to a 3 to 5 C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels by 2100. The...
It's time to go after invasive weeds.
Some ask, “What’s so bad about those so-called invasive species? Some of them are so pretty!” Yes, they’re pretty. One example is Himalayan Balsam, also known as “Policeman’s Helmet.” It has beautiful flowers. And it grows SO easily! The trouble with it is . . . it grows...
Editorial: Is Survival a Worthy Goal? Is Life Worth Saving?
Environmentalists have come under fire lately from certain quarters. Questioning the motivation of environmentalists raises the question: What are they fighting for? And the short answer is: survival. Not just personal, short-term survival, but the long-term survival of life on earth -- stopping the acceleration of...
Opinion: How do we pry apart the true and compelling from the false and toxic?
By David V. Johnson, from Aeon When false and malicious speech roils the body politic, when racism and violence surge, the right and role of freedom of speech in society comes into crisis. People rightly begin to wonder what are the limits, what should be the rules. It is a complicated issue, and resolving it requires care...
Column: From the Hill -- Invasive Species Action Inadequate
Lost in the recent media frenzy over the SNC Lavalin scandal were the 2019 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. These last reports from Julie Gelfand before her retirement focused on protection of fish and their habitat from mining effluent, subsidies to the fossil fuels industry...
Column: When does plant and animal species loss become a societal crisis?
It’s heartening, in the midst of the human-caused sixth mass extinction, to find good wildlife recovery news. As plant and animal species disappear faster than they have for millions of years, Russia’s Siberian, or Amur, tigers are making a comeback. After falling to a low of just a few dozen in the mid-20th century, the...
‘Smart’ meters, the Arena, the Skatepark, new Watering Rules, the High Cost of Sewage, and more!
Rossland City Council Regular Meeting, April 15, 2019 Present: Mayor Kathy Moore, and Councillors Janice Nightingale, Andy Morel, Scott Forsyth, Chris Bowman, Dirk Lewis, and – by telephone – Stewart Spooner. Public Input Period: John Howse spoke, objecting to the City’s installation of “Smart”...
COLUMN: Rapid Warming; What are we Doing About it?
Another week, another dramatic warning from scientists — met with shrugs all around. This time, a report commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada, “Canada's Changing Climate Report,” warned that this country is warming at roughly twice the global average rate, even more in the North and on the Prairies. Some of...
