Our MLA Michelle Mungall held a climate panel in Nelson to talk about the Clean BC plan to meet emission reduction targets in the province. Andy Shadrack from Kaslo listened to the presentation and did more research. We have him on the Show.
Castlegar City Council has adopted the 100% Renewable Kootenays target and I spoke with EcoSociety volunteer Greg Powell.
Alyssa Taburiaux from Fridays for Future talks about climate strike for Nov. 29 and quite a few other events. Lots of events.
The West Kootenay EcoSociety is celebrating its 25th birthday this year. Part of the celebration was a fundraising party last Saturday evening in Nelson with some of the poeple who were around at the beginning back in 1994. We have some recordings.
Environment News Nov. 19, 2019
B.C. continues to be the national leader by a long shot when it come to the adoption of zero emission vehicles including electric, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell cars.
New numbers released by Electric Mobility Canada show that a full 10 per cent of all new passenger vehicles sold in the province fall into the the ZEV category, well above the national average of 3.5 per cent. Quebec is the next closest province at seven per cent.
Al Cormier, founding president of Electric Mobility Canada, said B.C.’s unique combination of incentive programs, policies and legislation around ZEVs has been effective.
The province currently offers a rebate of up to $3,000 on the purchase of a new electric vehicle, which can be stacked with the $5,000 federal government rebate that was launched in March.
There’s also a maximum $6,000 rebate available through the B.C. Scrap-It program for buyers trading an old gas guzzler for a new electric. Additionally, there are incentive programs to help people install charging stations at home.
there are about 30,000 ZEVs on the road in B.C., representing one per cent of all passenger vehicles in the province.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-tops-canada-in-zero-emission-car-sales-1.5359331
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Eighteen months after the City of Toronto dropped transit prices for low-income riders, the reports on the expermient prove that cheaper transit enables people to transform their lives.
Described by the Toronto Star as “ridiculously effective,” Toronto’s Fair Pass Program was launched in April 2018, with its first phase of discounted Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) passes made available to anyone receiving welfare or disability support payments.
In the wake of the lower fares, (dropped from $3.10 to $2.05) one report said 90% of eligible users could take transit as much as they’d like, up from 55% before the discount.
At least 35% more users finding they can now afford to get to work, training, or job interviews, to school and to medical appointments. Cheaper transit also means better access to groceries, children’s activities, and to family and friends who live across town.
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Rockies LNG Partners, a group of Canadian natural gas drillers seeking new markets for their production, is considering building an export project on barges floating off the coast of British Columbia.
While no decisions have been made, the group sees a floating liquefied natural gas facility as a less-expensive option that also would have a “significantly” smaller environmental footprint, Rockies LNG Chief Executive Officer Greg Kist said in an interview. The group is considering projects that could produce roughly 12 million tons per year, which would require three barges, he said.
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The British medical journal, The Lancet. says the increase in extreme weather and air pollution due to climate change is seriously harming human health, and bringing in a world of food shortages, infectious diseases, floods, and extreme heat that will produce life-long health risks.
Nick Watts the co-author of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change says “Children are particularly vulnerable to the health risks of a changing climate,” “Their bodies and immune systems are still developing, leaving them more susceptible to disease and environmental pollutants,” and that “persistent and pervasive” health damage in early childhood carries life-long consequences.
The study says 220 million more people over 65 were exposed to heat waves in 2018 compared with 2000. The 2019 report, coinciding with wildfires raging in Australia, also found that human exposure to fires had doubled since 2000. Wildfires not only cause deaths and health damage but had significant economic and social impacts.”
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A recent reports shows An amazing 11,452 lobbying contacts with Canadians governments from 46 fossil fuel companies between 2011 and 2018. That’s an average of more than six per regular work day over an eight-year span.
The study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) said the lobbying “intensified when public servants and politicians were considering pipelines to pump fossil fuels from Alberta to B.C.’s coast,”
There was also intensify lobbying around changes to environmental assessment legislation.
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Two B.C. First Nations have launched a lawsuit against one of the world’s biggest mining companies. The First Nations want Rio Tinto Alcan to dismantle the major dam built 67 years ago on the Nechako River to supply power to the Alcan plant in Kitimat.
The First Nations say the dam reversed the river’s course and diverted 70 per cent of the water flow for industrial use.
The First Nations say it’s caused more than half a century of environmental degradation, harm to sturgeon and salmon, and damage to constitutionally protected Aboriginal rights.
A 200 day trial over the river’s fate began in Vancouver in October in B.C. Supreme Court.
This week, court hearings moved to Prince George, so that local elders could give testimony and listen in on the proceedings.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rio-tinto-alcan-sued-by-indigenous-1.5363820
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The Trans Mountain bitumen pipeline received $320 million in subsidies from the Canadian and Alberta governments in the first half of 2019, according to a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
That included $135.8 million in direct subsidies and $183.8 million in indirect subsidies that were not clearly disclosed to taxpayers, says the report.
Tom Sanzillo, the group’s director of finance says “This is a very large subsidy. It really does require more public discussion and public disclosure,”
The information comes from the second-quarter report of the Canada Development Investment Corp., a Crown corporation meant to further the country’s economic development that counts Trans Mountain Corp. among its subsidiaries.
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