On Monday the 19th Canadians will cast their ballots for who they think should run the nation. Open Media has released a report card on where the political parties stand on digital issues impacting Canadians. It’s with no surprise that the conservatives get a failing grade. The good news is
Continue readingAuthor: Adam Clare
Things Are Good: Canadians: Support the Science Integrity Project
Polling opens for the Canadian election on October 9th with the final day to vote on the 19th. This election, the organization Evidence for Democracy (and many more!) are asking you to vote with science in mind. The Canadian Conservative party blatantly ignores scientific facts in their policies and this
Continue readingThings Are Good: Solar and Wind Continue to Succeed, Coal Keeps Failing
Coal continues its downward trend to obsolescence thanks to the rise of installed solar and wind capacity. In many places around the world coal is more expensive than renewable energy and as a result it has driven costs down elsewhere. The future is clearly one that won’t use coal as
Continue readingThings Are Good: Be Healthy by Getting Dirty
Hygiene is harming us. The overuse of antibacterial everything and the kill-all solution of antibiotics seems to be doing harm to us. Don’t get me wrong – we need antibiotics and antibacterial solutions. The thing is that we’ve used them too much. The good news is you don’t have to
Continue readingThings Are Good: Be a Part of the Future: Sign the Leap Manifesto
Canada has been destroying it’s own environment (and trashing international environmental policy) for way too long. As a result of this ignorant neglect a bunch of prominent Canadians have produced the Leap Manifesto. And it’s good. Really good. Here’s just a snippet of the Leap Manifesto: A leap to a
Continue readingThings Are Good: Economic Discussion of Climate Change Gets Real
We’ve already seen climate refugees and climate wars, yet the business world has been rather slow to react. Many businesses operate with the denial of the economic effects of climate change. Today the head of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned the financial world that climate change is
Continue readingThings Are Good: Shell Stops Efforts to Drill in the Arctic
For a while now Shell has been trying to suck oil in the arctic. Arctic drilling is extremely dangerous and Shell’s efforts in the north have been ridiculed by Greenpeace. Greenpeace’s efforts have been matched by a ton of organizations (mostly on the west coast) also trying to stop Shell’s
Continue readingThings Are Good: China Cancelling Debt of Developing World
China has announced that it will provide debt relief to the developing world. President Xi Jinping made the announcement at the UN and anticipates the fund to help the developing world will eventually reach $15 billion. presently the fund is set at $2 billion and will have a positive effect
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Slow City, The Good Life
Cities are often associated with the hustle and bustle of life and commerce. Whereas the countryside is associated with stillness and slowness. One author, William Powers, decided to see what life is like when you treat the city as a slow place akin to the countryside. Just like Thoreau, he
Continue readingThings Are Good: Light Rail Bringing Massive Change to American Cities
Let’s face it: driving sucks. Car traffic is bad for everyone and a lot of American cities have caught on to this. As a result, more light rail is being built throughout the USA, recently Pheonix residents voted to back more light rail with a tax hike. What’s pushing this?
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Virtual Companion for a Safe Walk Home
At the schools I teach at they each have a volunteer run service to help people walk home who are worried for their safety. When one graduates from these schools they are on their own. Seeing that this how walk-safe programs work a bunch of students have created an app
Continue readingThings Are Good: More People Eating Less Meat
With every passing year more and more research points out that eating a diet with less meat (than the average amount consumed per person) is good for your health and really good for the planet. This is good news in itself, and what’s better is that the post-boomer population are
Continue readingThings Are Good: Why Science is Important in Democracies
Canada is in the midst of an election, and it’s a close one. The anti-science incumbents have spent a lot of effort muzzling scientists in Canada as they pursue their environment-destroying goals. Why does this matter? In a democracy it is necessary to have educated debates about issues instead of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Greenpeace’s Efforts Lead to Fishing Changes in Nauru
The tiny nation of Nauru (which has one of my favourite flags) has changed its laws thanks to the work of Greenpeace. The environmental organization found that fishing trawlers were catching fish at sea then offloading them to essentially a larger factory boat. This practice has been banned in many
Continue readingThings Are Good: Redistribute Neighbourhoods Instead of Wealth
People hate taxes despite the fact that basically every person who studies economics knows they are needed and a great way to spur economic success. Despite the fact taxes are needed and good at helping poorer people in society, taxes are hated. As a result, some researchers in the USA
Continue readingThings Are Good: Using Art to get People to Care About the Environment
We’ve all seen sad, depressing, and otherwise disturbing photos of animals or people suffering after a human made disaster. You know, like the ducks dying in the tar sands or photos from the Bhopal disaster. Photographers have long thought that by showing these disturbing and truth-capturing photos people will start
Continue readingThings Are Good: Documentary: This Changes Everything
The Toronto International Film Festival starts today and one of the documentaries that will be screened is based on the book This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. The film shares the same title and looks like it carries the same optimistic and clear message: we can change the world and
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Farm in a Bomb Shelter
Zero Carbon Food is a new company that has started a farm in downtown London. If that doesn’t sound strange enough, the farm is a in a bomb shelter. The company is using hydroponics and other modern technological approaches to food harvesting in order to make food even more local
Continue readingThings Are Good: Why Urban Areas Are More Efficient Than Suburban Areas
It’s been known for years that urban centres have a lower carbon footprint than the lands of urban sprawl. This is a for a variety of reasons and it’s rather complex, sure most of it comes down to density, but the exact know how is still being figure out. Over
Continue readingThings Are Good: Get Informed with Pollenize Canada
Pollenize for iOS and Android can help you navigate the upcoming Canadian election. I’ve checked out the app and it’s a really great way to see where the parties stand on popular issues. I recommend Pollenize if you’re looking for an easy way to understand the election. Pollenize is free
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