For the fifth consecutive year, FortisBC is encouraging individuals and communities to pledge to reduce electricity and natural gas use during Earth Hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. March 23. “FortisBC PowerSense encourages customers to turn every hour into an ‘Earth Hour’ by making impactful changes that can reduce energy use and...

After great success in the Grand Forks pilot project that's gone city-wide, but also spurred by a looming local landfill crisis and millions of dollars in imminent savings from recycling programs, the stars may finally have aligned for a regional composting service—a.k.a. "organics diversion"—said Alan Stanley, the Director...

Imagine the year is 2050. Gigantic, funny-shaped towers surround your view, a hovercraft zips by and of course, your robot butler hands you your drink. While we may still be far from this sort of scenario, one of the most important questions then (as now) is: “How will we use less energy?” KAST- GLOWS (Growing, Learning...

The quadrennial Spirit of Innovation Awards are on again and KAST—the Kootenay Association for Science and Technology, the award organizers—want nominations for individuals, organizations, and businesses whose hard work exemplifies West Kootenay innovation and entrepreneurship.“The innovation, intellectual capital, and...

The "Rossland Energy Diet," a unique energy-saving program that brought notable local rewards and has started to draw provincial and national attention, has celebrated great success in “phase one" and will now move into "phase two."A crowd gathered under a large tent beside the Rossland Mountain Market on July 12 to hear the...

My reassessment by green builder Ray Smith was not only an opportunity to secure a fat cheque in the mail from BC and the feds—albeit three months from now—but Smith took the time to give me more insight into the future of construction.   Every stage of this energy-upgrade project has been a valuable education, from my original...

Selkirk College is addressing the increased demand for new renewable energy technical and design skills, with their new Advanced Certificate In Renewable Energy Technology launching in May 2012 at the Castlegar Campus. This intensive six-week program will build on an individual’s existing education and experience, to provide...

Chris Dadson, president of Kootenay-Rockies Tourism (KRT), presented council with interesting tourism statistics on Monday evening, and showed off a brand new "Connected Travel" initiative for smartphones that they hope will help fulfill KRT's mandate to enhance the region's visitor economy. While the Canadian Tourism Commission...

By Michael Grabell in ProPublica. A common criticism of President Obama's $800 billion stimulus package has been that it failed to produce anything – that while the New Deal built bridges and dams, all the stimulus did was fill some potholes and create temporary jobs. Don't tell that to Annette Herrera. She was 50 when the ...

West Kootenay residents and people across B.C. will get up to $5,000 off the sticker price of a qualifying clean energy vehicle starting Dec. 1. Environment Minister Terry Lake said Saturday that the rebate includes qualifying new vehicles that are battery electric, fuel-cell electric, plug-in hybrid electric and those that operate on compressed natural gas. […]