Screen shot 2012-04-03 at 4.37.19 PM.png Last May, a group of young Americans, fed up with government inaction on climate change, decided to sue to protect their future. The group, led by 16-year old Alec Loorz, founder of Kids vs. Global Warming and the iMatter campaign, filed legal actions against
Continue readingTag: global warming
The Disaffected Lib: What’s the Definition of "Screwed"? In Texas, It’s Rick Perry.
The Great State of Texas is enjoying an early launch of the 2012 tornado season. As many as 18-tornadoes were reported to have hit the Dallas area on Tuesday leaving some 800-homes damaged or destroyed. Last April the US set a record of 758 tornadoes for the month. Weather.com meteorologist
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Gwynne Dyer on Our Future
I have been writing lately about environmental degradation and the bleak future that seems to await us. On that theme, (and because I have a busy morning ahead of me) I am providing a link to an article by Gwynne Dyer, who argues that because of our huge global population
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Pack Up Your Bags – The Weather’s Coming. Word Is Canada is Still Nice This Time of Year.
As the world transitions into a new and dangerous climate state, no nation is going to be immune to extreme weather event disasters. That’s the conclusion of the latest IPCC report. “One of the striking things, when you look at the report, is that there is disaster risk almost everywhere,”
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Trial of Stephen Harper, Part II
As suggested I have now contacted Avaaz.org and the Council of Canadians seeking their assistance in organizing a petition demanding our federal and provincial governments take immediate action to decarbonize our economies and our society. This can’t be done overnight but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it. Earlier this
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: We’ve Been Warned
We’re down to the home stretch in the fight to save civilization from the ravages of runaway global warming. A report in Scientific American warns we’re within just one decade of tipping points that will trigger natural feedback mechanisms to drive irreversible warming. The headline speaks volumes – “Global Warming
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: How A Degree or Two Makes a Huge Difference
RealClimate.org has published a very informative article, “Extremely Hot“ by Stefan Rahmstorf and Dim Coumou that explores the impacts of even modest one or two degree C warming on severe climate events such as heatwaves. The article uses these graphs to demonstrate that the impacts of even modest warming create
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Water Wars Warning, Part Deux
Yesterday it was US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warning that many parts of our world are on the brink of instability and warfare triggered by global warming and the world freshwater crisis. Now it’s Britain’s secretary of state for energy and climate change, Ed Davey, sounding the warning. “Countries
Continue readingCo2 Art: Sir, your room in the ice hotel is currently flowing down the St. Lawrence River
A couple of years ago, the biathlon (normally includes cross country skiing) at the B.C. Winter Games had to be replaced by haha the “summer biathlon”. This year, if you had a room booked at the Montreal Ice Hotel during the last two weeks of March, you room is now
Continue readingCo2 Art: Sir, your room in the ice hotel is currently flowing down the St. Lawrence River
A couple of years ago, the biathlon (normally includes cross country skiing) at the B.C. Winter Games had to be replaced by haha the “summer biathlon”.This year, if you had a room booked at the Montreal Ice Hotel during the last two weeks of March, you…
Continue readingCo2 Art: Sir, your room in the ice hotel is currently flowing down the St. Lawrence River
A couple of years ago, the biathlon (normally includes cross country skiing) at the B.C. Winter Games had to be replaced by haha the “summer biathlon”. This year, if you had a room booked at the Montreal Ice Hotel during the last two weeks of March, you room is now
Continue reading350 or bust: Ethical Oil: The Puppet Rap
This Saturday gem comes from creative folks over at The Tyee: Why is everybody all bitchin’ bout the bitumen? Don’t you like rich men turnin’ into richer men? Solomon, whose agenda you followin? Typical liberal lamestream politics! Crackdown in Iran? Those Ayatollahs should park it! Monks burnin’ in Sichuan? well
Continue reading350 or bust: Global Warming Debunked
Well, okay, maybe not so much debunked as, well, confirmed. Oops – it turns out we should still be worried, and working our butts off to preserve this wonderful world for our children and all the yet-to-be-born children. This video looks at four examples that clearly illustrate the impact of
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Kochtopus Cato Institute Power Grab: A Historical Perspective
Kochtopus-3_0.png A new chapter is being added to the ongoing Kochtopus saga. On March 1 the Washington Post, in a story sure to fill the airwaves for the weeks and months to come, revealed the Kochtopus is suing the Cato Institute for control of the recently deceased and former Cato Chairman William Niskanen's ownership share in the think-tank.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Heartland Institute: A Manifestation of the Kochtopus Empire
Kochtopus-3.png It is nearly impossible to discuss the vast climate change denial echo chamber and not mention the Koch Brothers, Koch Industries, and what some have called the Koch Empire. Perhaps unsurpisingly then, the origins of the Heartland Institute — whose internal documents were recently leaked to DeSmogBlog — have a direct historical link to the rise
Continue reading350 or bust: TED Talk Thursday: How To Survive Peak Oil & Climate Change
There is an effective response to the climate crisis. In this TED Talk from 2009, Rob Hopkins speaks about a practical and inspiring solution to the challenges of peak oil and climate change, the transition movement. The transition movement helps people prepare for life without oil, and in the process
Continue reading350 or bust: Cap & Trade Benefits Big Polluters And Even Bigger Banks
In order to address the challenge of climate change, pricing carbon pollution is necessary. Capping carbon pollution and creating a carbon market has been proposed as a method of doing this. However, it turns out that “Cap & Trade”, as it’s called, will benefit the Wall Street whizzes who brought
Continue reading350 or bust: We’ve Been Messin’ Where We Shouldn’t Have Been A-Messin’
Climate change, You Scary: In which Hank Green details the five scariest things that will likely happen because of climate change. * Find the Sci Show: Where the science goes on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. Want to know what to do? Go to: Citizens Climate Lobby to join
Continue reading350 or bust: Spoil: The Great Bear Rainforest Under Threat From Enbridge Pipeline
My weekend in Winnipeg ended with an evening at the Park Theatre listening to Nathan Cullen, an NDP Member of Parliament who is running for the leadership of his party. He and the other leadership candidates were in Winnipeg for an afternoon debate. Mr. Cullen painted a vivid picture of
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Andrew Weaver on the Tar Sands
Last week, world-renowned University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver, lead author of several IPCC reports, shocked friends and enemies alike by publishing an article in Nature Climate Change in which he makes an unexpected claim. He and co-author Neil Swart (a UVIC PhD student) find that Alberta’s Athabasca tar
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