Carbon 400 and How Denmark Became and Emissions Cutting Success
Denmark is thought of as the “wind technology capital of the world”. Indeed, it may be. But its thousands of huge turbines produce only 20 percent of its power. The…
Ray Grigg
Reflections on the Maypole of Spring
something sacred pulses in the bodies of the dancing children as their ribbons wind and unwind around the Maypole, as their feet so playfully touch, leave and then return to…
Radicalizing Scientists
Dr. Mark Jaccard, professor of economics at Simon Fraser University and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,…
The Religion Factor in Canada’s Environmental Politics
Stephen Harper’s seemingly anti-environment and anti-science agenda has prompted Andrew Nikiforuk, a prominent Canadian journalist, to search for the root cause of this behaviour. In his quest for an explanation,…
The Hunger Games and Other Dystopias
The Hunger Games have arrived, a storm of popularity that is selling millions of books and filling movie theatres. Suzanne Collins’ dystopian story is about North America in ruin after…
Change Blindness: Not Seeing the Obvious
The psychology underlying people’s behaviour is as fascinating as the things they do. “Change blindness” is a case in point. Psychologists describe it as the inability of people to notice…
Ecocide: Crimes Against Nature and Humanity
On September 30, 2011, a mock trial by judge and jury at the University of Colchester in England found two oil executives of Canada’s tar sands guilty of ecocide. The…
For Whom the Bell Tolls: Disappearing Coral Reefs, Ocean Species
John Donne’s “for whom the bell tolls” has another relevance today that is more poignant, one encapsulated by a visitor to Hawaii who casually noted that the islands’ coral reefs…
Wealth and Ethics
For a glimpse into the strategy, psychology and ethics of the corporate world, read the Dilbert cartoons. A recent example from March 17, 2012 is particularly poignant. Dilbert and Alice…
Climate Change: Forcing and Feedback
Two principal dynamics are at work in the global warming process that is changing the planet’s climate. The first is “forcing”. This is the term climatologists use to describe the…
The Economics of Salmon Farms, Oil Pipelines and Natural Gas
Even without considering the environmental costs and risks of producing and transporting oil and gas, opening our markets to Asia and elsewhere is an unwise strategy for British Columbians and…
Decline of Climate Change Acceptance Scares Leading Scientists
Dr. Nina Federoff, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said at a recent gathering of the AAAS in Vancouver that she is “scared to death” about…
Tipping Points: The Haunting Uncertainties
Tipping points are haunting uncertainties because they pertain to the unpredictable moment when the cumulative effects of environmental disturbance can trigger feedback loops of unstoppable change that can collapse entire…
Northern Gateway: Pipeline to Problems
While Enbridge may assume responsibility for the safety of its pipeline – offered with the usual over-confidence of a developer promoting its project – it cannot claim responsibility for the…
Globalization: The New Pangea
Globalization is, in effect, a return to Pangea. In the blink of a geological eye, all the barriers that once separated the continents into distinct ecologies are now being dismantled…
The Importance of Scientific Freedom
Science denied or science muzzled is a threat to entire political and economic systems, even to the viability of whole societies. Policies that don’t respect scientific processes and the weight…
Four Myths: Insights into Change
Everything that science can tell us about the environmental challenges unfolding around us must pass through layers of attitudes and values before we can identify or remedy them – “If…
Willful Blindness and Sick Salmon – Lessons from Cohen Commission
The mystery of the disappearing wild salmon may be closer to being solved due to the reconvened Cohen Commission and the extraordinary three days of hearings held in December, 2011.…
Salmon Politics and the Egg Trade
The source of the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAv) now being found in BC’s wild salmon is almost certainly from imported Atlantic salmon eggs, the international trade that has provided…
Salmon Virus Cover-up About Protecting Markets, Not Fish
The credibility of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has been compromised by its conflicting mandates of managing wild salmon and promoting salmon farming. Now we discover that the Canadian…