Column: Yes, we can resolve the climate crisis.
There’s no shortage of solutions to the climate crisis. Rapidly developing clean-energy technology, reducing energy consumption and waste, increasing efficiency, reforming agricultural practices and protecting and restoring forests and wetlands all put us on a path to cleaner air, water and soil, healthier biodiversity and ...
BC Government quietly releases response to expert fracking report
Province avoids investigation of human health impacts of fracking, despite independent scientific review warning of unknown risks to air and water By Sarah Cox, for The Narwhal The B.C. government has quietly released its response to an independent scientific panel’s report on hydraulic fracturing as it ushers in a...
Column: Can caribou and industry co-exist?
The economy-versus-environment debate is wrong-headed in elevating a changeable human construct to the same level or above the natural systems on which our health and well-being depend. And in many cases, it would be more accurate to characterize it as “environment versus corporate interests.” Although those interests often...
Column: Getting to Zero
We’re caught in a bad cycle. Global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, causing more extreme weather events and temperature swings. Hotter than normal weather in some places and colder in others means more people are using heat and air conditioning, which creates more emissions…According to a statistical review by oil...
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...