Welcome to Dry February: You’re probably going to feel the need for a good stiff drink when you realize just how dry things are likely to be in Alberta this year! Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The United Conservative Government appears to have finally cottoned
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Susan on the Soapbox: The Politicization of the Beast
Welcome to “Life in a Conservative Province” also known as “they say the wackiest things.” “They” being conservative premiers who say idiotic things when asked: how do you reconcile your government’s policies with the impact of climate change on the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires? Before we get into
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Canada smokes New York
Good neighbours share. But what Canada is sharing these days with its good neighbour to the south is not appreciated. I refer to the dense plumes of smoke from our manifold wildfires which are darkening skies and smothering cities across the continent, in our country and theirs. On Tuesday, New
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: About reparations
Last Tuesday, the air quality in Calgary hit a level in the range hazardous to human health. According to meteorologist Jaclyn Whittal, Alberta had the “worst air quality in the entire world.” The villain of course was smoke from the wildfires raging across the province. And who were the villains
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Global warming—news old and new
I got up this morning in semi-darkness even though the sun had risen at 5:45 a.m. and the forecast was for sunny and warm. I looked out my window and couldn’t see farther than a couple of blocks. Looked as foggy as old London town. But of course it wasn’t
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Wildfires and Gordon Lightfoot
“Do the best with what you’ve got.”—Gordon Lightfoot News of Gordon Lightfoot’s death, while not unexpected, still came as a shock. We didn’t think he’d live forever; truth be told we didn’t think about him very much anymore, then boom! he was gone. And I’ve been thinking about him
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Wildfire state of emergency introduces new calculus to Alberta election campaign
Declaration of a provincial state of emergency just 23 days before the spring election introduces a new level of complexity to Alberta’s electoral math. Alberta Opposition Leader Rachel Notley (Photo: Alberta NDP). Alberta is now dealing with electoral calculus, as it were, not just mere arithmetic. With dry conditions, hot
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Burning up the credits
Purchasing carbon offsets is a popular way to act against global warming, or at least to alleviate one’s conscience. An offset allows a business, government or individual to pay someone else to remove a given quantity of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere rather than cutting emissions themselves. The purchaser is
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Looking At Ourselves In The Mirror
If you have access to the New York Times, there is a piece well-worth reading by Michael Benson. Entitled Watching Earth Burn. it includes photos of our planet taken from three weather satellites in geostationary orbit high above the Equator. These photos attest to the ravages of climate-change induced wild
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s Europe Calling, Justin. You Might Want to Take This. No? Okay.
The EU elections showed that voters are abandoning old school politics and the same old, same old. Small wonder. Right wing populists appear to be the big winners but also rising is the Green Party. People are worried. They can see what’s coming. They can feel what has already arrived.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Smoked-Out Coast
What does it mean to live in America’s Pacific states? Smoke, a lot of smoke, enough that it is changing the way of life, perhaps unalterably. That’s discussed in an essay/book review by McKenzie Funk in The London Review of Books. The author, his wife, two young boys and their
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Second Verse, Same As The First
The playlist is, I know, increasingly repetitive, but Earth-station has but a few records remaining on the turntable, and they will only be played louder and louder as the party winds down. Meanwhile, the wildfires in Greece, fueled by heat and drought, have claimed more than 70 lives: Recommend this
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Fast-Approaching Abyss
While North American politicians give us either sunny platitudes or outright denials, the reality of the climate-change abyss we are quickly approaching should now be becoming apparent to even the most benighted among us: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Scenes From Hell, And A Small Effort At Climate-Change Adaptation
It may seem rather pararochial that whenever I post video showing the current effects of climate change, I almost always post scenes from North America, despite the fact that floods, fires, heatwaves and other such apocalyptic signs are present through…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Corporate Recognition Of Climate Change
When the insurance industry starts worrying, we should all be very, very afraid.Bill Adams, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) vice-president of the Western and Pacific Region, says the rising costs of insurance claims leaves no doubt that climate change…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Fort McMurray provides a humanizing break from hyper-partisan politics in Alberta
One year ago, the Edmonton Journal published a letter written by Greg Stevens, in which the former cabinet minister sent Alberta’s newly elected New Democratic Party best wishes at the start of its term as government. Mr. Stevens, who served in …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: One year ago today the NDP won in Alberta. The next day hell froze over.
The attention of most Albertans this week is rightfully focused on the wildfires that are raging through northern Alberta and the more than 80,000 residents of Fort McMurray who have fled to safer ground in the south. It is a… Continue Reading →
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Angry For Good Reason
Every evening at 6:30, I try to take about 10 minutes to watch NBC Nightly News, the object of my interest not American politics but the apocalyptic imagery of the West Coast wildfires. Every night seems to bring reports of new conflagrations and tragedy, and every night my anger grows,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Apocalypse Now, And The Shape Of Things To Come
I decided to take a break from the political landscape today to look at our physical one. Regrettably, although the title of this post comes from two films, what is depicted here is all too real. I’ll let the disturbing imagery speak for itself. Recommend this Post
Continue readingLeDaro: California: Instead of rain or snow the state is getting wildfires in the dead of winter
California has a serious drought, it did not get such a weather in over a century. Drought is causing serious problems for farming besides other uses of water. Drought is affecting other states as well, but California is the worst hit. Drought is causing out of control wildfires and the
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