Assorted content to end your week. – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Sultan al Jaber and Vanessa Kerry offer a reminder that a climate breakdown in progress represents a foundational danger to human health and well-being. Geoffrey Diehl observes that the root causes of the crisis are greed and strictly-enforced ignorance. Miki Perkins points
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Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Jessica Wildfire examines the continued threat of COVID-19 even as governments have largely decided to stop recognizing its devastating effects on public health. And Tom Kitchin points out how the same phenomenon has played out even in New Zealand (which was once
Continue readingThings Are Good: New Sail Technology Saves Money and Reduces Emissions
In the early days of this site we posted about a company that was adding sails to giant freighters and how this hybrid approach would save money and fuel. The testing of the sails did show positive results, however the cost of operating them and the potential problems they caused
Continue readingThings Are Good: Rethinking Assets can Alter Our Political Equation of Climate Change
They emphasis the need to address asset revaluation concerns in the context of climate politics and suggests that a focus on domestic politics is crucial. They also discusses the role of obstructionist interest groups (like the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) and their influence on climate policy, pointing out that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: Alberta has already killed the notorious Grassy Mountain coal mine, so why is it still alive?
It’s a true Alberta mystery. The notorious Grassy Mountain open-pit coal mine proposal on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta near the Crowsnest Pass keeps getting killed by the regulatory process – and somehow keeps being resurrected by its deep-pocketed Australian backers who seem to have
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: 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 readingThings Are Good: The Fence Tourists Love to See
Down in New Zealand there’s a fence that people go out of their way to see. This fence was the first of its kind and was built to keep invasive predators out while conserving native species. The fence was built a couple decades ago and was specially designed to protect
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 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: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Peter Borg discusses how the climate breakdown is compressing planetary changes which would normally take millions of years into individual lifetimes – even as petropoliticians seek to increase the damage we’re doing to our living environment. And Edna Mohamed writes that climate
Continue readingThings Are Good: iNaturalist Goes Its Own Way
Way back in 2011 we took at a new app that helps to identify the world around, back then it was to help the California redwoods. That app is iNaturalist and it’s had a great decade plus of identifying all sorts of plants and animals. The app, which has a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Mary Van Beusekom discusses new research showing that a quarter of COVID-19 survivors are still facing impaired lung function (among other health problems) a year after infection. And Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti write about the CDC’s approval of new vaccines better targeted toward
Continue readingThings Are Good: Climate Solution Simulator
Avoiding a bigger climate catastrophe should be a concern for everyone, but understanding how to do that could be a challenge for some. The EN Roads simulator is a way for people to easily understand how to end our destructive energy practices. It’s an easy to use interface that has
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – John Woodside weighs in on the UN’s recognition of the need to stop our dependence on dirty energy. And Jillian Ambrose reports on the International Energy Agency’s projections which foresee the beginning of the end of fossil fuel use. – Leo Collis points
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Aug 3: The day Danielle Smith kneecapped wind and solar energy
The low point of my summer (and there were many with this UCP government) came on Aug 3 when Danielle Smith announced a 7 month moratorium on wind and solar renewable energy projects—a decision that paralyses more than 100 projects valued at $33 billion—ostensibly to address policy concerns that could
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Apoora Mandavilli writes that cleaner air is essential to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Elizabeth Hlavinka discusses the severe impact of long COVID on children and the lack of resources to treat it. And Helen McArdle reports that hundreds of Scottish hospital
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: More patients for healthcare facilities that prominently display Jim Pattison’s name
In the 2021 election campaign, federal Liberals promised to stop thermal coal exports by 2030. Weeks later, Trudeau repeated the pledge at COP26. As usual, hollow promises are worthless and thermal coal continues to be exported from ports in British Columbia and capacity to handle this dirty fossil fuel has
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Letter to Protest Moratorium on Renewable Energy Projects
Dear Readers: It’s August.We should be enjoying what’s left of summer but with the Smith government it’s one stupid thing after another. Premier Smith Smith’s decision to impose a 6 month moratorium on new renewable energy projects was the last straw. Yesterday I sent a letter of protest to Smith,
Continue readingThings Are Good: Canada Starts to Reduce Oil & Gas Subsidies
A country that loves extracting fossil fuels has begun to clean up its tax rebates for the destructive oil and gas industry. Canada spent over $15 BILLION on subsidies for the oil and gas sector in 2021 alone, which isn’t just bad it’s literally funding the destruction of the planet.
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