LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD OCTOBER 1 SHOW HERE:
Martin deRuyter, visiting from Nelson, New Zealand, tells us how cycling and cycling infrastructure is going there. Co-host Solita Work reports on the Regional District of the Central Kootenay response to the new Castlegar-Nelson corridor proposal. And, we hear about the new local documentary about restoring a wetland and relationship: Snk’Mip (Sink Meep): Dig Deeper. Lorna Visser from the Valhalla Foundation for Ecology and KL Kivi supporter of the Autonomous Sinixt tell us about it.
LINKS MENTIONED:
See photos of the trail and tunnels near Nelson, New Zealand.
https://www.nzcycletrail.com/find-your-ride/23-great-rides/tasmans-great-taste-trail/
https://www.nzcycletrail.com/find-your-ride/23-great-rides/alps-2-ocean/
Great images, testimony and a trailer for the local documentary film Snk’Mip: Dig Deeper
THIS WEEK’S ENVIRONMENT EVENTS
Suddenly there are tons of events comign up in the next week ore two.
Tuesday, October 1
On National Seniors Day over 50 events are being held across Canada For the Canadian Seniors for Climate day of action.
2 pm Millenium Park Pavilion in Castlegar
Local speakers. Writing postcards to elected representatives demanding more action.
3 pm on Nelson, in front of RBC Bank on Baker St.
A “deputation” to MLA Brittny Anderson : governments need to do much more to align policies, including stopping subsidising fracking and speeding up the transition to green energy.
7 pm Thursday, October 3rd
Public Election Forum on Climate, Forests and the Environment
Nelson United Church 602 Silica St. Nelson.
All candidates for Kootenay Central riding invited.
Sponsored by West Kootenay Climate Hub, Doctors and Nurses for Planetary Health Kootenay Boundary and the Nelson West Kootenay Chapter of the Council of Canadians.
11 am Saturday, October 5, 2024
BC We Need A Bus Day #2
Visiting the candidates
11 am meet at Railtown Parking for sign making and postcard signing
Walk with signs up Baker St. to TWO candidate offices:
Brittny Anderson (old Coop Building). Nicole Charlwood, 521 Vernon St.
Bringing friendly greetings and postcards to each campaign.
Wrapped up by 12:15 pm.
Noon to 3 pm Saturday October 5
Power of Forests Event
The Adventure Hotel, 616 Vernon St, Nelson
With: Rachel Holt, Jennifer Houghton, Joe Karthein
https://www.evergreenalliance.ca/forest-news/44/
https://boundaryforest.org/pof/
September 23 to October 6
Fall GoByBike Weeks are back, and this time with a fresh lineup of prizes that will make your autumn rides even more thrilling.
Get ready to gear up by registering for free at logmyride.gobybikebc.ca and pedal your way to amazing local biking prizes! https://gobybikebc.ca/
ENVIRONMENT NEWS BITS
Kootenay Lake is at its lowest level in almost 50 years.
The International Kootenay Lake Board of Control (IKLBC) revealed that on Aug. 19 the lake water level — as measured at Nelson and Queen’s Bay — was the lowest recorded in the 1976-to-present comparison period.
“Due to low snowfall throughout the winter of 2023-2024, Kootenay Lake water levels are very low for this time of year,” she said,
Kootenay Lake at Nelson was at 1,741.91 feet (530.93 metres)
The calendar year peak at Queen’s Bay was on June 4 at 1,745.67 ft. (532.08 m.), which is below normal at the 29th historical percentile.
https://www.nelsonstar.com/local-news/kootenay-lake-level-dips-to-lowest-on-record-7526260
The provincial government has said no to a proposal to create a protected area for an area of old growth cedars near Duncan Lake.
“At this time, BC Parks is not considering including this area in the provincial protected areas system,” wrote Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen in a letter to Grant Trower of Howser, B.C., on Sept. 3.
Grant Trower is the founder of the group Wildlife Habitats for Tomorrow that has been advocating for the protection of a 531-hectare grove and wetland.
He wants the province to declare the cedar groves a protected area, which is a category of protection just short of a full-fledged provincial park.
“There are many trees in this grove that are well over 1,000 years old, and one that is estimated to be 2,100 years old,” said Trower. “They are the largest trees in the whole southern interior rainforest. It isn’t just old growth. It’s ancient old growth.”
Don’t ‘axe the tax’: B.C. municipalities took a stand on carbon pricing. On its last day the Union of BC Municipalities conference discussed an emergency resolution put forward by Nelson councillors Keith Page and Rik Logtenberg.
As provincial politicians hit the campaign trail, local leaders call promises to axe B.C.’s carbon tax a threat to urgent climate action.
Instead of doing away with the consumer carbon tax on fossil fuels, the resolution argues B.C.’s next government should overhaul the levy and give a large chunk of the revenue it raises to local governments to spend on climate mitigation and adaptation measures like transit, infrastructure upgrades and energy efficiency programs for homes.
After a five-and-a-half-hour marathon public hearing, the District of Squamish council has voted against a temporary use permit for FortisBC’s workers’ accommodation lodge.
By a 4-3 vote, council made the decision to oppose the lodge, which was proposed to house up to 400 Eagle Mountain Pipeline workers, with a peak of 600 workers during the summer period.
The most common themes raised by locals included women’s safety, the location of the camp and its impact on the Squamish Canyon project.
Climate protesters across the world hit the streets two weeks ago to kick off this year’s Global Climate Strike ahead of the opening of high-level United Nations General Assembly meetings, where climate finance for the Global South is on the agenda.
Protests for climate justice were planned across 50 countries, with Germany alone seeing more than 100 rallies that together drew some 75,000 people. The protests were spearheaded by the youth-led group Fridays for Future (FFF), started by Greta Thunberg in 2018. The New York chapter of the group marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Friday afternoon aiming to “tear down the pillars of the fossil fuel industry.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/climate-protests-global-strike
Last week he UN adopted a Pact for the Future, in which the governments of the world decried “the current slow pace of progress in addressing climate change” (you might wonder who’s supposed to be setting that pace). Early drafts of the pact didn’t even address the prime cause of the problem. But the political leaders ultimately acknowledged that accelerating progress means “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.”
The bloc of countries pressing to phase out fossil fuels welcomed the statement and called for an international implementation framework. “We’re past time to fight over words,” said Feleti Teo, the prime minister of Tuvalu.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/newsletters/zero-carbon/2024/09/27/tipping-points-good-kind
Former US Vice President Al Gore said last week that the fossil fuel industry uses its deep-rooted influence over “captive politicians,” as an effort to slow the progress of climate change policy.
Gore has sounded the alarm that corporate giants and some countries are falling behind on their climate commitments, which he partly attributes to the industry’s “information war.”
"The climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis, and the fossil fuel industry is the wealthiest and most powerful industry in the history of the world," Gore told Axios climate expert Andrew Freedman at Axios House Climate Week/UN General Assembly in New York City.
He added: "They've proven they're way better at capturing politicians than capturing emissions.”
https://www.axios.com/2024/09/23/al-gore-fossil-fuels-climate-change-policy
Longest running Enviro News show on the Radio! 