LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD THE JUNE 13TH SHOW HERE:
John Alton, one of the founding hosts of The EcoCentric joins us today for a special live show celebrating member appreciation week at Kootenay Coop Radio. George Chandler from Nelson At Its Best talks about the community group’s discussions on public spaces and an upcoming meeting to talk about pedestrian accessibility in the City. Aly Hyder Ali, a climate and fossil fuel researcher and campaigner with Environmental Defence in Ottawa, talks about the climate warning represented by the horrendous early and cross-country wildfire disaster that has forced tens of thousands of Canadians to evacuate.
LINKS:
Read the great report on public spaces in Nelson: https://www.bestnelson.org/
The Narwhal report on when wildfire and fracking collide: https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-donnie-creek-wildfire-fracking/
EVENTS:
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Noon Friday Jun 16
West Kootenay Climate Hub Zoom Webinar
Inner Development Goals and the minusfiftypercent.org Initiative. Why we must grow both individually and collectively to create the future we all desire.
Free for everyone, register at WestKootenayClimateHub.ca
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MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2023 AT 6:30 PM
Nelson at its Best Working Session for Pedestrian-Friendly Experiments Nelson Public Library
Come and join fellow citizens who want to help with practical strategies and actions to experiment with a more pedestrian-friendly Baker Street. This idea came out of a year-long research project by Nelson at its Best on the benefits of public space.
Participants at a recent community meeting on public space identified this as an area to work on. It’s an urban innovation that works very well in many cities, even ones of comparable size to Nelson like Kimberley, Canmore, and Banff.
Let’s work together to increase connection by enhancing community space and help make this happen in our downtown.
Check out the Final Report on Public Space in Nelson at BestNelson.org
Email info@bestnelson.org with any questions.
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TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2023 AT 6 PM ET
National Emergency Call with Steven Donziger and Dr. Peter Carter: Canada is Burning!
Canada is burning! How many homes need to burn down for us to get our act together?
We can do better as a country!
Hear from Expert IPCC Reviewer Dr. Peter Carter and Human Rights Lawyer Steven Donziger, who is being persecuted by oil corporations and billionaires – and grassroots activists working hard to produce change to save the country.
30 years of conventional campaigning has not produced material results.
Register HERE: https://us06web.zoom.us/…/tZYpceugpz8iHN0SvzXoNURqdRbuk…
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ENVIRONMENT NEWS
Last month Parliament passed the first update to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in 20 years and it includes a new duty for the feds to protect the right to a healthy environment and to uphold the principles of environmental justice.
“It’s a terrific day when Canada recognizes the right to a healthy environment and will be an even better day when governments respect, protect and fulfil everyone’s right to a healthy environment! The passage of S-5 puts Canada on [that] path at last,” says David Boyd, UN special rapporteur on human rights and longtime advocate for the legal right to a healthy environment.
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A new survey found that seven out of 10 adult residents in British Columbia have participated in outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing or canoeing, in the past year.
The Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. produced the research to highlight the need for volunteers and governments to maintain and support outdoor infrastructure, such as trails, to keep pace with demand.
“As a province, we must do more to ensure that all British Columbians are able to access meaningful outdoor recreation opportunities, including kids, older adults, and people with disabilities,” Louise Pedersen, executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. (ORCBC) said in a release.
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Giant pipeline company Enbridge has paused its Westcoast Connector mega-pipeline, after growing opposition. Indigenous house groups and others on the pipeline route are deeply concerned about the impacts on Skeena salmon and local communities. The proposed Westcoast Connector pipeline would have been bigger than the embattled Coastal GasLink. It would require thousands of new fracking wells. Exporting that gas as LNG would unlock gigatons of dangerous methane and CO2.
Enbridge’s project certificate expires next year. The company demanded an emergency extension from the B.C. government. But at the last minute, Enbridge pulled the plug.
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In other good news about fossil pull back… Norwegian company Equinor announced it was delaying Canada’s first deepwater offshore oil project for up to three years, saying it needs to shift the “concept and strategies” behind the project. Cloe Logan reports that Bay du Nord was part of Newfoundland and Labrador’s plan to double offshore oil production by 2030.
In April 2022, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault approved Bay du Nord, stating it was environmentally sound.
Now environmental sceptics think it’s unlikely to ever proceed with the inevitable wind down in oil and fossil fuels.
Companies and governments looking at Bay du Nord as an example should take pause, said said Gretchen Fitzgerald, Sierra Club Canada Foundation’s national program director. She said the project’s instability shows how shaky the fossil fuel industry as a whole.
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The excitement around solar and EVs suggests China is changing direction in its energy transition more than a half-decade before their 2030 target to peak emissions. It no longer requires heavy government subsidies to push people away from fossil fuels. Cheap solar panels are a better way to make money than burning expensive coal, while EVs are cheaper to operate — and increasingly more fun to drive — than gasoline-powered vehicles.
BloombergNEF raised its forecast for China’s 2023 solar installations last week. It now expects the country to add nearly three times the capacity it did just two years ago, or more than the entire total in the US. EVs, meanwhile now are more than a third of all vehicle sales in China.
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Longest running Enviro News show on the Radio! 