When it comes to teaching my kids about the world, I never assumed science would be a top priority. Yet these days I find myself spending little time focusing on language, instead opting for discussions about things like gravity, the solar system and human evolution. This is partly due to
Continue readingTag: climate change
350 or bust: Caring For Our Environment Isn’t Optional
I’m on a (low-carbon) holiday for the next while, with little access to a computer, so please accept my apologies for delayed responses or posting of comments. All should be back to normal the last week of March. In the meantime, I scoured my files for some photos and graphics
Continue reading350 or bust: “I Have A Dream”: How Great Leaders Inspire Us
An inspiring TED talk from Simon Sinek, motivational speaker and author of Start With Why about how leaders inspire action, starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?” This video should be required viewing for climate activists who want to communicate with others about why climate change is the
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Of Petrostates and Patriotism
If Alison Redford gets to define Canadian patriotism, then I don’t want to be patriotic. The Alberta premier yesterday accused federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair of “a fundamental betrayal of Canada’s long-term economic interests” after the latter took a trip to DC in what is being widely interpreted as an
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Thomas Mulcair and the Attack of the Oil Pimps
It's like a really bad horror movie.One that could only happen in Harperland, where madness reigns, and the Big Lie RULES.A B-movie where Thomas Mulcair gets swarmed by a small army of Con oil pimps, for warning the Americans the pimps are trying to scam them. While the Con pimps, who
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: #SpinAlert: Light Rail for the Valley Instead of a UBC Subway
Who Framed Roger Rabbit reminded us all of the Great American Streetcar Scandal: cars over mass transit. Now, in the lower mainland we have the UBC tunnel over light rail to the valley. This week, we start with a transportation spin alert. Last week, Allen Garr wrote an interesting piece
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Papal PR: Welcome to St. Francis with The Sword
Pope Francis Right from the start, Pope Francis has set a new tone in the Vatican for the Catholic Church under his papal rule. Gone are the trappings of power; in are the trappings of modesty. The new Pope, sans Cadillac, sans fancy garb, has set out to impress upon
Continue reading350 or bust: Saturday At The Movies
Need a lift this morning? This should do it!
Continue readingBoreal Citizen: Lessons from Big Tobacco: When the right to make money trumps the right to clean air
In Manitoba, beach-goers fed up with cigarette butt litter and drifting plumes of smoke have reason to celebrate. The province is the first in Canada to make beaches and playgrounds in provincial parks smoke-free. Now, imagine traveling back in time, and showing that headline to somebody in the 1960s when smoking
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Asia’s Destabilizing Water Woes
The Asia Pacific region faces enormous freshwater challenges triggered by overpopulation, industrialization, and climate change. What’s coming is bad enough if only Asia wasn’t starting so far in the hole. A report from the Asia Development Bank finds that two-thirds of the region’s huge population already has no clean, piped
Continue reading350 or bust: Greedy Lying Bastards: Exposing The Fossil Fools Who Put Profit Before Human Lives
* One of the few-and-far-between perks of being a climate blogger is that occasionally I get access to books and movies before the general public does. This past weekend I got to watch “Greedy Lying Bastards” before it hit movie screens across the U.S. on Monday. Sunday night I, along
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Tarsand Analogy
This is an unpolished analogy of Canada’s attitude toward the tarsand/climate change problem. Let’s say Canada is a person complaining about their weight (they think their carbon footprints are too heavy). To solve this problem they read a diet book that their friend Europa suggested to them, and they even
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Land Use Planning for Nature, Climate and Communities
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 In December 2012 the Environmental Law Centre at the University of Victoria published a collection of environmental law reform proposals, with contributions from a variety of leading environmental lawyers, which included a number of essays from West Coast Environmental Law. This essay, by West Coast Environmental
Continue reading350 or bust: How Our Secrets Steal Our Lives
It’s TED Talk Tuesday on 350orbust. Here’s a fascinating TEDx talk by South African trainer and speaker Bruce Muzik whose “passion is having people experience unprecedented freedom and happiness, through being Authentic.”
Continue reading350 or bust: Canadian First Nations Leader Takes Tar Sands Fight To Europe Ahead Of Key Council Vote
via Friends of the Earth Europe & Bill Erasmus, Dene National Chief A leader of Canada’s Indigenous peoples gave a dramatic eyewitness account of the environmental and social devastation associated with mining tar sands at the world’s biggest tourism fair on Friday March 8, ahead of key vote by the
Continue reading350 or bust: Saturday At The Movies
Kleenex warning!
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Wall’s Leaky Logic
Brad Wall went to Washington in order to pitch the Keystone XL pipeline project. In doing so, he made some really absurd claims, that CTV failed to juxtapose against the scientifically accurate situation that Wall mischaracterized. Joe Oliver of the Conservatives has also been making totally absurd claims about Canada’s
Continue reading350 or bust: In Honour of International Women’s Day, Let’s Stop Harming and Start Helping
Reblogged from 350 or bust: It’s International Women’s Day, a good time to reflect on the fact that women around the globe are, and will be in the future, disproportionately affected by a changing climate. Oxfam lists the ways that climate change affects women – and consequently children: Women are
Continue reading