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...
Weekly Newsletter from MLA/Minister Katrine Conroy
See you this Saturday May 13th at the Silver City Parade! Trail Firefighters’ Parade downtown to East Trail, Starts at 11 AM route map. For more information regarding events Silver City Days - City of Trail. During the spring legislative session, Premier David Eby and the B.C. government focused on the issues that matter most...
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...
Weekly Newsletter from MLA/Minister Katrine Conroy
This week, we celebrated Creative Industries Week here in British Columbia. Throughout the week, I had a chance to speak with people from the music, book, TV and movie industries from across the province who joined us here at the Legislature. The creative sector is so important to B.C. These industries not only employ nearly...
COLUMN: On the intelligence of other species -- such as bees
The more we learn about other species, the more our human-centric attitudes are challenged Up until about 400 years ago, it was widely accepted that Earth was at the centre of the universe, and everything revolved around it. When scientist Galileo Galilei challenged this “geocentric” view — confirming Nicolaus Copernicus’s ...
COLUMN: Human consciousness, under construction -- PART THREE
Doing Good, Becoming Better, Following Leaders Reading Parts One and Two of Arc #185 published previously, would benefit a reader for an understanding of what follows. In Part One, I described my youthful dreams, the egalitarian aspirations that humans have not managed to realize, and in Part Two, I raised questions of leaders...
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 ...