Older Swiss women win climate case at European Court of Human Rights.
LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD THE APRIL 16 SHOW
Laurie Frankcom from the Central Kootenays Invasive Species Society talks about an awareness campaign on keeping whirling trout disease out of the Kootenay river system. The whirling disease could be devastating to Kootenay Lake’s trout and kokanee population.
Solita Work from West Kootenay Cycling Coalition tells us about public input sessions on their proposed Nelson Castlegar Active Transportation corridor proposal. Events run all next week in communities all along the Kootenay Valley. You can see details of the proposal at each event.
The Canadian organization Re.Climate does extensive polling compilation to give an annual picture of Canadian Public Opinion on the climate crisis and public action on it. Chris Hatch explains the polling analysis and gives us some explanation of the downturn in support for more action on reducing Canadian emissions.
LINKS MENTIONED
Central Kootenay Invasive Species Society
https://ckiss.ca/news/
West Kootenay Cycling Coalition Open Houses on Nelson-Castlegar corridor proposal, April 20 to 25
https://westkootenaycycling.ca/events
Re.Climate 2024 Report Canadian Climate Opinion
https://reclimate.ca/resource-training-hu/what-do-canadians-really-think-about-climate-change-in-2024/
Chris Hatch’s ZERO CARBON column on NationalObserver.com
https://www.nationalobserver.com/u/chris-hatch
ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS
Friday, April 19 Noon
Zoom – registration required
West Kootenay Climate Hub Webinar: Columbia River Treaty and Climate Change
How will the Columbia River Treaty negotiations affect ecological integrity, Indigenous rights, and climate resilience? What are the trade-offs between electricity generation and functioning ecosystems? Join Greg Utzig for our April webinar exploring the Columbia River Treaty. https://www.westkootenayclimatehub.ca/upcoming-events
Sunday, April 21, 10 am – 3 pm
5915 Taghum Hall Rd, just outside Nelson
Celebrate Earth Day
Come celebrate Earth Day at Taghum Hall’s family friendly event, featuring 40+ vendors and information booths, full concession, entertainment in the gazebo, contests, kid zone! The Climate Hub invites you to share your love of the lake, mountains, trees and living beings of the Kootenays in activities for the whole family. Hope to see you there!
Sunday, April 21, 10 am – 2 pm
Outside Ripley’s, 8816 Slocan Rd S Trail, Village of Slocan
Celebrate Earth Day in the Slocan Valley
Climate Hub members in the Slocan Valley will have a table at the Earth Day event outside of Ripley’s in Slocan from 10am – 2pm on Sunday, April 21st. It’s free, but please bring food to share.
April 20-April 25
Communities along Kootenay River valley
West Kootenay Cycling Coalition open houses on the Nelson-Castlegar Active Transportation Corridor Proposal
April 20, 2 pm to 4 pm
Nelson Library
602 Stanley St, Nelson
April 21, 10 am to 3 pm
Taghum Hall
April 22 (Time to be confirmed)
The Dam Restaurant & Bar
April 23, 6 pm to 8 pm
Brilliant Cultural Centre 1876 Brilliant Road, Castlegar
April 24, 6 pm to 8 pm
Tarrys Hall Highway 3A
April 25, 3 pm to 5 pm
Castlegar City Hall
Community Forum Meeting Room. 460 Columbia Ave
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May 1, 2024, 7 – 9pm
Nelson, Capitol Theatre
Lean in and Listen: Building Bridges in a World on Fire
Hear renowned environmental activist Tzeporah Berman reflect on 30 years of advocacy for old-growth forests and climate justice—and the surprising lessons she has learned about finding common ground with logging executives and with the oil industry.
Tzeporah Berman is one of Canada’s best-known environmental activists. She made her name as a leader of the protests against logging in Clayoquot Sound over 30 years ago.
She has spent time in jail, won global awards, chaired government advisory committees and negotiated some of the most groundbreaking deals to protect the environment this country has ever seen, including the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement and the first climate plan in Alberta’s history.
In 2013, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from UBC for her work advancing agreements and policy to set a higher standard for protecting our environment.
Tickets are available through the Capitol Theatre.
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SHORTS
April 11, Wet’suwet’en Chiefs’ and Land Defenders’ attended the Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) annual general meeting for the third consecutive year. This year, they were anticipated, and RBC did everything it could to silence and disrespect Land Defenders in attendance. From screening questions in advance and denying people water in the room to refusing to answer questions and actively cutting Chiefs and Land Defenders off as they spoke.
Hundreds of people rallied outside the AGM to support and speak. It seems that there were more of us than of them. More than 20 delegates attended inside the AGM and made up the majority of attendance in the room (besides security). You made RBC so scared that it moved its AGM to Etobicoke and pre-screened questions. None of their shareholders wanted to come and face us.
Nelson city council has decided to give downtown restaurant patio owners a year to stop heating their outdoor spaces with gas.
This was one of several updates to the downtown patio rules that council made at its April 9 meeting.
Councillor Rik Logtenberg, who has for several years advocated at the council table against restaurants using fossil fuels to heat the outdoors on city property, reluctantly acquiesced to the suggestion that owners be given a year’s notice.
“But I’d like to see these gone by next year for sure, if not sooner,” he said, adding that there are patio heating alternatives that “probably would be cheaper in the end over the long term.”
A group of older Swiss women have won the first ever climate case victory in the European Court of Human Rights.
The women, mostly in their 70s, said that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.
The court said Switzerland’s efforts to meet its emission reduction targets had been woefully inadequate.
It is the first time the powerful court has ruled on global warming.
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg joined activists celebrating at the court in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68768598
On March 13, the Government of British Columbia announced that it would be harvesting 25 deer in the Kootenays. This announcement came six weeks after chronic wasting disease — a 100 per cent fatal disease of cervids (deer, elk, moose, caribou) — was first detected in the province.
Unfortunately, for a disease like this, in efforts to protect many animals, some will die.
CWD is incredibly difficult to manage and nearly impossible to eradicate. Infected animals don’t show symptoms for about 18 months, which means that an animal’s appearance or behaviour doesn’t necessarily reflect whether it has CWD or not.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2024/04/03/Chronic-Wasting-Disease-BC-Begins-Harvest-Deer
The Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, Bill C-50, finally passed the House of Commons late Monday, after a 12-hour voting marathon triggered by more than 100 amendments put forward by the Conservative opposition.
Trade union and environmental groups had worked hard to push the groundbreaking legislation.
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) said
“Bill C-50 will ensure that sustainable jobs are good union jobs, with good pay and benefits. It will create new sustainable jobs, help shift energy workers into sustainable jobs, and decarbonize good jobs to make them sustainable,”
“Workers and unions were incredibly disappointed that Conservatives chose to fight the inclusion of worker voices in shaping a sustainable future built on good, unionized, net-zero jobs.”
theecocentricradioshow.ca 