A few Prius-inclined websites noted last week that Dec 10, 2012 marked the 15th anniversary of the Prius’ introduction in Japan. With the Prius (temporarily?) becoming the world’s 3rd-best-selling car brand in 2012, the anniversary probably deserves some reflection. 🙂 > As near as I can figure, Malcolm Gladwell-type book
Continue readingTag: environment
The Progressive Economics Forum: Marc’s Letter from 2040
The following comes from a short talk on a vision for a zero-carbon BC that I gave at a couple events this Fall. Many have asked for the text so I’ve posted it here, and we may try and turn it into a video. That said, I have been reluctant
Continue readingwmtc: fighting for democracy in the courts and in the street: #idlenomore, democracy 24/7
I no longer see TV news, but I have it on good authority that if your primary news source is CBC’s The National, you haven’t been hearing about two important developing – and exciting – stories. Idle No More is a campaign led by First Nations peoples to fight back
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Peace region changes
Visit David Suzuki Foundation for links.
Continue readingthe reeves report: Cleaning up the Niagara River
Niagara River © RokaB – Fotolia.com The Niagara River has come a long way since the 1980s. One would still be advised not to drink the water, swim in some of the public beaches or eat the fish you reel in, but the latest report on the remediation plan reveals
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Nothing can go wrong, nerthkt can go rong…
One of Murphy’s Laws: “If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop. Corollary: It will be impossible to fix the fifth fault, without breaking the fix on one or more of
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The global financial coup and the coming revolution
The Real Story of the 2012 US Presidential Election – the story the mass media missed altogether – And the critical lessons from history that we must learn now “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” – anonymous “Evil can flourish only when good people
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Large majority of Canadians opposed to takeover of Nexen by China’s CNOOC
The takeover of Canadian energy firms by foreign state-owned companies got the Ottawa green light even though polling indicates a large majority of Canadians oppose the move. China’s CNOOC has been given the go-ahead on the purchase of Calgary-based petroleum producer Nexen Inc. – a $15 billion dollar deal; Malaysia’s
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Gag A Town
A very disturbing bit of news from northern Saskatchewan is getting some press recently. This was sent to me on the weekend about a gag order issued for Canadian citizens in a northern community named Pinehouse. Pinehouse’s political leadership may sign away their citizens’ constitutional rights (which isn’t legal, obviously),
Continue readingEclectic Lip: The US once was, but will never again be, the Saudi Arabia of oil
The idea that the US might one day produce more oil than Saudi Arabia, popularized by an International Energy Agency (IEA) report, has gone viral in recent weeks. It’s like the “Call Me Maybe” phenomenon, but for Very Serious People! 🙂 Alas, the idea that the US will out-produce Saudi Arabia
Continue readingThings Are Good: Nature in One Cubic Foot
A portrait photographer has been travelling the world with a one cubic foot frame and cataloguing what’s in the area the cube covers. He has captured the value of biodiversity and along with science, notes that a bio-diverse farm is more productive and healthier than one that is focused on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Paul Krugman discusses two theories behind the ever-growing divergence between soaring profits and stagnant wages. But it’s particularly important to note that neither of them calls for “free money for rich people” as a rational response: Why is this happening? As best as
Continue readingwmtc: in memoriam 832F
Tragic. Criminal. Completely unnecessary. The alpha female known as 832F is dead. She was murdered. Yellowstone National Park’s best-known wolf, beloved by many tourists and valued by scientists who tracked its movements, was shot and killed on Thursday outside the park’s boundaries, Wyoming wildlife officials reported. The wolf, known as
Continue reading350 or bust: Doha Climate Talks End With Canada Leading Race To The Bottom
So, COP18 in Doha has ended with a whimper not a bang – quelle surprise! Seems like greed is still trumping common sense and compassion for our children and those living on the edge in the world right now. While Doha did win recognition for poorer nations of the “loss
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Forest Ethics: Canada’s Tar Sands 71% Foreign-owned
by Forest Ethics: An in-depth review of shareholder information from Bloomberg shows that 71 per cent of all tar sands production is owned by non-Canadian shareholders. Supposedly Canadian companies (with Canadian headquarters and accounting practices who trade on our stock exchanges) are largely owned by foreign interests, including Suncor (56.8%),
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Enbridge cross-examination focuses on campaigning, lobbying; ignores evidence
by Forest Ethics | Tuesday Nov 27, 2012: Given the opportunity to shed light on its proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline project at the NEB’s Joint Review Panel (JRP) hearings currently taking place in Prince George, Enbridge lawyer Laura Estep chose instead to focus on ForestEthics Advocacy’s use of the media,
Continue readingdrive-by planet: New IFG report: ‘Faces Behind a Global Crisis: US Carbon Billionaires and UN Climate Deadlock’
At COP 18 Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman speaks with Victor Menotti, executive director of IFG Activists at the Doha COP 18 climate conference point to the US as the biggest obstacle to real action on climate change. During an interview with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, Indian environmentalist, Sunita Narain, described
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: When Is A Private Sale Public?
Conservatives tell us that state ownership of industry is bad… if it’s Canadian state ownership. Their actions tell a different story. “Canada is just barely holding the reins“. S.E. writes, “You probably don’t need me to tell you that selling a controlling stake in this country’s largest energy resource to
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Canadian Tar Sands Pipeline Protesters Dance to the Reggae Beat
Jim Cooperman describes the video: This is a music video for Sylvain Vallee’s protest song. It includes clips and stills from the Oct. 22 and 24th Defend Our Coast rallies in Victoria and across the province. “Song lyrics by Sylvain Vallee and Lynn Erin. Song recording by Sylvain Vallee (see
Continue readingDeath By Trolley: What issue do you wish you cared more about?
There are a lot of important moral/political/pragmatic issues. Far too many for one person to even be aware of, let alone be informed on and/or personally active in addressing. I believe that you cannot choose your interests or your passions. You can decide to try to get into something -e.g.,
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