Assorted content to end your week. – Sigal Samuel discusses the potential to better target investments toward well-being – though it seems odd to criticize measures of health as a standard alongside GDP. And Cory Doctorow writes about Deb Chachra’s observation that we should view infrastructure as a form of
Continue readingTag: climate change
IN-SIGHTS: Boundless, scalable, clean energy
Decarbonization is a catchword used by the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries. But each of those groups cannot eliminate inherent dangers. Unless we develop safe, carbon-free energy sources, we cannot sustain current standards of living. And, perhaps we cannot sustain human life in the long-term. But, as billions of
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: The difficult path to a green economy
Since 1990, Canada’s emissions have decreased by a modest 3.1 tonnes per person. However, when we look at the distribution of emissions, we find that the bottom 90% reduced their emissions by almost 5 tonnes per person, while the top 1% increased their emissions by 34 tonnes per person.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Arijit Chakravarthy and Martha Lincoln offer a reminder that COVID-19 isn’t about to go away just because we’re refusing to deal with it. And CBC News and Adam Toy report on renewed masking requirements in Manitoba and Alberta health care facilities respectively.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Protecting the Environment: There has to be a better way
In 2019 the federal government enacted the Impact Assessment Act which regulated “designated projects” (think: oil sands, mining and other major projects within provincial boundaries). The Kenney government tagged it the “No More Pipelines Act” and brought a reference case to the Supreme Court of Canada arguing that the IAA
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Somasetty Suresh examines the symptoms associated with long COVID, while Elizabeth Cooney reports on new research hinting at the depletion of peripheral serotonin as one of its causes. And Jamie Ducharme points out that the CDC (and other public health authorities) still has
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: It’s Going to Get Worse Before it Gets Even More Worse
Times are dark. Try to find moments of calm and humour to get you through the day. Covid is out of control. It’s nothing new, but more and more are being affected in irreparable ways, taking out teachers and doctors and all sorts of necessary workers. It’s harder to avoid
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Damian Carrington reports on new research showing that the cost of damage caused by extreme weather is already upwards of $16 million per hour (and escalating). And Peter Kalmus writes about the need to wind down the fossil fuel industry rather than
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Sameer Elsayed offers a primer on what people need to know about current COVID-19 risks. Mary Van Beusekom discusses the likelihood that long COVID is being underdiagnosed in children who may not have either the same symptoms as adults, or the vocabulary to
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: It’s not the carbon tax
A few in the BC Legislature, and the Official Opposition in Canada’s Parliament, want us to believe that carbon taxes must go to improve the country. They’re wrong, MP Alistair MacGregor has it right…
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Breathe, Grieve, Love, Repeat
We have very little direct influence over one another but we do affect one another in myriad ways that we often don’t even notice. I had a student once, about 15 years ago who I thought was a delight, as I did almost all my students. He was bright and funny and
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Record temperatures and record dangers require strong actions
In September, California issued a lawsuit charging numerous oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute for intentionally spreading misinformation and delaying action on climate. The lawsuit details behavior by companies to protect their business interests regardless of the damage caused. This is not the first such lawsuit, but may be the most important…
Continue readingClaiming Joy & Healing Amidst the Climate Emergency : Cultivating Quantum Consciousness in the Climate Emergency
How would embracing quantum thinking change the way we think about ourselves, the way we think about others, what we put out into the world? And what would that mean in the context of the Climate Emergency? How would that change our response to what we’re bombarded with on the
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Goal Setting Feels Very Different Now!
I’ve been thinking about that goal-setting exercise they had us do in school: Divide a piece of paper in three and write 20, 5, and Bang at the top of each column. In the first section, write out where you’d like to be in 20 years to brainstorm potential long
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith’s Alternative Reality
Albertans live in an alternate universe. How else can we explain last week’s press conference where Danielle Smith pilloried the draft electricity regulations which are designed to ensure Canada’s electrical grid is running on 100% clean energy by 2035* and unveiled a national advertising campaign of print, radio, TV, social
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Spending $130 billion in BC to accelerate oil & gas production
Around $130 billion dollars will be spent in British Columbia to increase consumption of oil and gas. NDP and BCUP politicians make empty promises about dealing with climate change, but at the same time welcome photo ops at large scale fossil fuel projects. Conservatives cling to unscientific ideas that climate
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Chris Hedges discusses how the end of empire-based colonialism has only given way to an even more exploitative corporate version. And Cory Doctorow points out how surveillance capitalism inevitably turns its resources toward defrauding the people being monitored and manipulated. – Matthew Rosza
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On a New Path
Is this year different, or is this the new trajectory we’re on to the very end? The Climate Brink collected a series of unnerving graphs showing what an outlier this year is. Some pollyanna types are hoping just this year will be different, and then we’ll somehow get back within our
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Thais Melquiades de Lima et al. study how the tonsils are a major site for COVID-19 persistence in children. And Penny Daflos reports on British Columbia’s restoration of mask mandates in health facilities as the ongoing pandemic persistently fails to go away
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Leonie Thorne reports on new data showing that COVID-19 was Australia’s third-leading cause of death in 2022 even as conventional wisdom decreed that the pandemic in progress be ignored. And Christopher Waddell examines (PDF) the lessons Canada should have recognized for future health
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