LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD APRIL 30 SHOW:
LINKS FROM THE SHOW
BikeBike an alternative Calgary bike shop:
https://www.bikebike.ca/
Kootenay RideShare
https://kootenay.ride-share.org/
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 1, 2024, 7:30 – 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.
Tickets are available through the Capitol Theatre.
Monday, May 6, 7pm
Online Webinar
Confronting Wildfires in an Era of Climate Emergency
- John Vaillant is a best-selling writer, journalist, and author of Fire Weather.
- Joe Gilchrist is a Salish Fire Keeper and People of the Land.
- Dr. Maura Brown is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Diagnostic Radiology at UBC & member of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
- Byron Cruz is an organizer & outreach coordinator for the BC Federation of Labour’s Occupational Health & Safety Centre’s Migrant Worker Program.
- Moderated by Seth Klein, team lead at the Climate Emergency Unit & author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency.
FREE. Register at: https://bcclimateemergency.ca/events/confronting-wildfires-in-an-era-of-climate-emergency
Thursday, May 9 12:30 – 1 pm
Zoom Webinar
Connecting BC: Public transit and the transition to zero emission transportation
In collaboration with the BC Federation of Labour, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has published Connecting BC: a 10-year vision for public transit throughout BC. In this webinar, report author Marc Lee will discuss the highlights of this 10-year transit investment plan that outlines a path to make transit affordable, accessible, inclusive, carbon-zero and a great experience for users across the province.
Transportation planner and BC Climate Emergency Campaign transportation working group lead Eric Doherty will also discuss the significant overlaps between Connecting BC and the BC Climate Emergency Campaign’s efforts to accelerate the transition to zero emission transportation.
FREE: Register https://bcclimateemergency.ca/events/jwf22y72zlrsu409tu50r44pr9636i
Friday, May 17 Noon
Zoom Webinar
West Kootenay Climate Hub Webinar: Young women in Leadership
The next West Kootenay Climate Hub webinar is a conversation about young women taking on leadership roles. We’ll connect with Danika Hammond, New Denver councillor, and Maya Provencal, Rossland councillor.
Register: WestKootenayClimateHub.CA
May 25th & 26th
Bear Spring Retreat, Beasley
The West Kootenay EcoFest
A ‘Made in the West Kootenays’ celebration of sustainable action with local waste reduction solutions, live demonstrations, inspiring learning opportunities, regional food and lively festivities.
https://koelsociety.com/. or https://bearspringeco.ca/
ENVIRONMENT NEWS BITS
International negotiations wound up in the early hours in Ottawa this morning for a new global treaty to deal with plastic pollution. The United Nations declared progress and expert observers blamed an army of aggressive industry lobbyists for “weak compromise” on an agreement.
“For the first time in the process, negotiators discussed the actual text of what is supposed to become a global treaty,“Delegates and observers from 170 countreie at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-4) said it was progress to move from ideas to treaty language.
The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), one of the main civil society groups following the treaty talks, said the results fell far short of what’s needed.
“The United States needs to stop pretending to be a leader and own the failure it has created here,” said CIEL President Carroll Muffett. “When the world’s biggest exporter of oil and gas, and one of the biggest architects of the plastic expansion, says it will ignore plastic production at the expense of the health, rights, and lives of its own people, the world listens. Even as the US signaled to the G7 that it would commit to reduce plastic production, it intentionally blocked efforts to do that in the global talks most relevant to the issue.”
Environmentalists called for restricting the production of plastic, something the industry strongly opposes of course. Corporations instead call for new means to deal with plastic waste and recycling. Recycling hasn’t gone well so far.
Last year, Canada exported 202 million kilograms of plastic waste, up from 183 million kilograms the year before, according to the government’s own data.
The majority of that plastic is shipped to the United States, but it’s unclear what happens after that. Plastic waste from the U.S. is often exported overseas. Canada’s second-largest export market is Malaysia, which became a major global destination for the world’s plastic waste after China abruptly banned most imports in 2017.
Here’s some amazing stats on plastic production, courtesy of researcher Dave Hughes. 90% of the plastic in the world has been produced SINCE 1984. Half of all plastic since 2008.
The curve of production growth has been almost straight up. Canada, with large petro resources, is a big plastics producer.
The Green Party of Canada is criticizing a 60-day sentence handed to its deputy leader today for her role in old-growth logging protests on Vancouver Island.
Angela Davidson, also known as Rainbow Eyes, was convicted in January of seven counts of criminal contempt for breaching a court injunction and later her bail conditions.
Davidson was first arrested in May 2021 for breaching a Fairy Creek court injunction granted to Teal Cedar Products.
She was subsequently arrested six more times, including for returning to the area when she had been ordered not to, and for violating house arrest.
Rainbow Eyes is slated to spend 48 days in jail after getting credit for 12 days already served, and must also do 75 hours of community service.
Green Leader Elizabeth May said the party stands “in solidarity with our brave Deputy Leader Rainbow Eyes who is to lose her freedom for the ‘crime’ of trying to protect the old-growth forest the provincial government had said it would protect from logging — and then did nothing.”
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon tax rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Guilbeault is taking a tougher stand after the federal budget promised to amend the Financial Administration Act so government payments accepted for deposit at Canadian banks will carry whatever title the government wants, The Canadian Press reported earlier this month.
“The fact that they haven’t been doing it now for many years led us to take this position,” Guilbeault said.
His department has been battling with banks for almost two years over how carbon rebates are labelled when they are deposited directly into bank accounts.
Climate action advocates on Monday celebrated the Biden administration’s Earth Day announcement that it is distributing $7 billion in Solar for All grants “to develop long-lasting solar programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed residential solar,.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the awards]will fund solar projects that positively impact over 900,000 households nationwide while reducing 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/solar-for-all
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