Column: From the Hill -- Oil, Pipelines, Jobs and the Climate Crisis
The conversation around pipelines and oil sands in Canada has been so heated and polarized it’s difficult to sort hype from fact. It’s often hard to have an informed conversation about the issue, let alone an informed debate. On the one side we have people who are deeply concerned about the climate emergency facing us. It...
Opinion: Death by Plastic
Canadians care about the environment. We recycle, compost, take pride in our spectacular natural areas and understand the threat of climate disruption. But we also use more energy and water and produce more garbage per capita than any other nation. In 2017, Canadians produced 1.33 billion tonnes of waste — 36.1 tonnes per...
Gold Fever Follies: "The Big Boom" is a blast!
The costumed cast of the 2019 Gold Fever Follies posed with members of the Rossland branch of the Nelson & District Credit Union staff in front of the NDCU’s Rossland branch, in appreciation of a generous financial donation from the credit union to help support this Rossland summertime tradition. The Gold Fever Follies...
Column: Stoicism in the twenty-first century (Part one of three)
What is your “Philosophy of Life?” Recently, I’ve learned in various media commenting on cultural trends that an ancient philosophy, Stoicism, is making a comeback in the 21st century, to address the human condition and crisis of our particular moment in time. How and why people adopt a philosophy interests me. So I am going...
Opinion: How the marvel of electric light became a global blight to health
By Richard G. Stevens; from Aeon Light pollution is often characterized as a soft issue in environmentalism. This perception needs to change. Light at night constitutes a massive assault on the ecology of the planet, including us. It also has indirect impacts because, while 20 per cent of electricity is used for lighting...
Column: Time to dream big
Climate protection is not a partisan issue Media and politicians often regard environmentalists as a special interest group with political priorities served by “green” parties. If a Green politician isn’t present or allowed to participate in a public debate, journalists tend to eschew environmental questions, considering them...
OBIT: A woman so funny she named herself my Stepmonster
Betty was very quick of wit, usually quite agreeable and very funny. She was gentle, accepting, and supportive and she rarely took crap from anyone. She always had a ready response. Her kindness and generosity of spirit usually stopped her from giving voice to unkind sentiments. She could always see the positive side of...
Column: Fracking is neither climate solution nor economic blessing
The rush to exploit and sell fossil fuels as quickly as possible before the reality of climate disruption becomes too great to deny or ignore has generated some Orwellian rationalizations. Somehow a bitumen pipeline has become part of Canada’s plan to tackle the climate crisis. Another fossil fuel, fracked gas, is being touted...
Editorial: What CSIS ought to investigate instead
Our federal government, and CSIS, are focusing on the wrong threats Recently, there has been publicity about a perception that Canada’s Intelligence Service – CSIS – has dedicated resources to investigating law-abiding, peaceful advocacy groups – and their members -- working to preserve Canada’s natural environment and its ...
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 ...
