COLUMN: Knowledge vs. Actions
In 1989, I did a radio series for CBC called It’s a Matter of Survival. It examined how humans were altering the environment in detrimental ways, including heating the planet by burning massive amounts of coal, oil and gas for power and transportation. Listeners were so concerned that 17,000 sent in letters (this was pre-email...
Op/Ed: Zero carbon buildings
By Maya Provençal, Rossland City Councillor The summer of 2021 was my first summer back in the Kootenays after being away for nearly five years. I was so excited to indulge in all of my favourite summer activities like taking the dog up KC, and swimming at Nancy Greene Lake. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do much of either ...
COLUMN: Required: a paradigm shift
In the effort to limit and reverse the worsening impacts of global heating, the immediate goal is to quickly stop burning coal, oil and gas. That means rapidly shifting to renewable energy for electricity generation and transportation. But simply switching from one source of energy to another and trading gas-powered cars,...
Op/Ed: WHY Resources Open-pit Mine Proposal for Record Ridge
West High Yield (WHY) continues its efforts to further its application for a permit to go ahead with the next phase of its proposed magnesium mine on Record Ridge. The Ministry has accepted the WHY application for a permit, but has not approved it. The review process has just begun. Local residents should be aware that...
Column: Affordable ways to avoid climate catastrophe
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions to keep the world from heating to catastrophic levels is entirely possible and would save money. Although emissions continue to rise, there’s still time to reverse course. Ways to slash them by more than half over the next seven years are readily available and cost-effective — and...
COLUMN: Who pays the hidden, exhorbitant costs of fossil fuels
Support for oil and gas projects is often justified on economic grounds: they fuel the economy and create jobs. But do those arguments hold up? Even leaving aside the enormous costs of climate-related disasters such as flooding, drought and increasing water scarcity, and pollution-related health impacts and premature deaths,...
COLUMN: The benefits of decisive action on climate change
Decisive climate action will bring a healthier, more prosperous future There’s no shortage of available, affordable solutions to avoid the worst impacts of a changing climate — and more are being developed every day. Employing them will also bring many other benefits. But with the world rapidly heading toward the threshold ...
OPINION: Rewarding destroyers, punishing defenders
As of early February, police have “made more than 90 arrests and dozens of detentions” to facilitate construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C., “running up a taxpayer tab of more than $25 million,” according to the Narwhal. François Poirier, President and CEO of TC Energy, which owns the project, was...
COLUMN: Climate crisis? Who knew? Turns out the oil industry did
By now, anyone paying attention knows that burning coal, oil and gas has created a crisis that threatens our survival. The scientific evidence — in fields including physics, geography, oceanography, meteorology, chemistry, biology and more — is indisputable. All major scientific institutions and national governments confirm...
Opinion: Privatizing long-term care is a bad idea
Why for-profit homes won’t solve long-term care issues: Privatizing health services is a bad idea that just won’t go away Authors: Pat Armstrong, Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology, York University, Canada, and Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Professor emeritus, Simon Fraser University Canadian health economist Robert ...