THROUGH THE COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY.
LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD OCT 22, 2024 ECOCENTRIC HERE:
Kiki Wood from Stand.Earth talks about the election result and how the environmental movement in BC can respond now. Nelson City Councillor Leslie Payne talks about outcomes from the Union of BC Muncipalities confab and about city budget season. An Agreement-in-Principle for a renegotiated Columbia River Treaty was released this summer and local hydrologist Martin Carver talks about some of the new aspects it covers.
LINKS MENTIONED:
Hundreds of motions are brought to the Union of BC Municipalities, here is the list of MOTIONS and the VOTING Results from the 2024. Meeting: https://www.ubcm.ca/sites/default/files/2024-09/2024%20UBCM%20Resolutions%20Disposition%20-%20Friday%2C%20September%2020.pdf
Public input into Columbia River Treaty Agreement-in-Principle, and links to a summary of what’s agreed in principle. https://engage.gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty/agreement-in-principle/
The Upper Columbia Basin Environmental Collaborative. There is information on UCBEC here:
https://www.kootenayresilience.org/columbia-river-treaty
The UCBEC Discussion Paper and its Summary:
Discussion Paper:
https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-34247081/documents/5eac4068c917drL6kyBY/UCBEC_Improving-EF-UCB__DPv2_2020Apr17.pdf
Summary:
https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-34247081/documents/5eac404af028f663NgWK/UCBEC_Improving-EF-UCB__DPv2-Summary__2020Apr17.pdf
ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS
7 pm Tuesday, October 22nd
there’s a public meeting on forest management put on by the Harrop Proctor Community Coop which of course manages the community’s forest.
Forest ecologist Herb Hammond from Winlaw and forester Jim Smith from Creston will both be speaking.
That’s tonight Tuesday, Oct. 22nd at the Harrop Community Hall.
hpcommunityforest.org.
7pm Thursday, October 24th
Torchlight Brewing in Nelson
This one time – an evening of outdoor adventure stories from inspiring women+
Join us for a fun evening featuring local storytellers,
a silent auction with fantastic items from local brands, outdoor
companies and more. All in support of building backcountry mentorship opportunities for marginalized genders including women, women-identifying individuals, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people.
7 pm Saturday, October 26 2024
Snk’mip: Dig Deeper, feature documentary
Arrow Lakes Theatre Nakusp
7 pm Saturday, November 2, 2024
Snk’mip: Dig Deeper, feature documentary
Nelson United Church.
The feature documentary about reviving the marsh at the north end of Slocan Lake and building right relationship with the Sinixt people who have lived here for thousands of years.
ENVIRONMENT NEWS BITS
Hundreds of homebuilders, restaurateurs, food providers and other entrepreneurs are asking Vancouver’s municipal council to reinstate the city’s ban on natural gas in new buildings.
In a Tuesday letter, about 150 business people asked city council to “reconsider” its controversial July decision to void the ban created in 2020 to prevent builders from putting natural gas piping and other infrastructure in new buildings. Vancouver was the first Canadian city to implement this type of ban that inspired other municipalities across the country to follow its lead and infuriated Canada’s gas lobby.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/10/15/news/bc-business-people-vancouver-reinstate-gas-ban
Alberta’s United Conservative Party membership will vote on a resolution to celebrate carbon dioxide as a “foundational nutrient for all life on Earth” at its November annual general meeting.
The resolution includes “Abandoning ‘Net-zero’ targets” and “Removing the designation of CO2 as a pollutant.”
The Alberta government has launched a $7-million ad campaign, against a proposed federal industrial emissions cap. The campaign comes just weeks before the leadership review for Premier Danielle Smith at the annual general meeting.
The proposed cap to start reining in rising oil and gas sector emissions, is one of the federal Liberals’ key climate policies. Environmentalists see it as essential to actually lower Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions which cause global heating.
Lisa Young, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, told Canada’s National Observer “Everything that’s happening coming out of the Smith government right now is focused on the upcoming leadership review,”
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/10/21/news/danielle-smith-scrap-cap-ads-timing
Ontario’s top court ruled in favour of seven youth in their case against the Ford government’s weakening of climate targets. The Court of Appeal found there are legitimate Charter rights at stake and ordered a new hearing. The decision is not itself a decision on the case but means the seven youth will return to court. Mathur et. al. is the first case in Canada to consider whether inadequate climate plans violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“With this ruling, these seven young Ontarians have proven how crucial youth voices are in the fight against climate change. Their victory is a significant moment for climate action in Canada and serves as a beacon of hope,” said Ecojustice lawyer Fraser Thomson.
In Ontario the Ford government has proposed legislation to undo progress on bike lanes. The new rules would require municipalities to get provincial approval before installing bike lanes that reduce vehicle lanes.
In Hamilton for example, the most significant bike lane connects the city’s “upper” and “lower” regions. It was created in memory of Jay Keddy, a cyclist killed on the adjoining roadway.
The bike path required removal of a vehicle lane, and has significantly improved safety for cyclists and encouraged active transportation, Borsuk said. Under the Ford government’s proposed legislation, this project might never have been approved.
Ford has defended his legislation as necessary to prevent gridlock. On Thursday, Ford even suggested that existing bike lanes might need to be removed to make room for more car lanes.
Indigenous leaders are demanding a stronger voice in Canada’s energy transition, calling for climate action that not only respects Indigenous rights, but incorporates traditional knowledge of the environment in any future solutions.
Addressing more than 1,100 participants via video link at the Assembly of First Nations Third National Climate Gathering in Calgary, AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said climate change is an emergency for First Nations’ lands, waters, and communities. “The drivers of the climate and biodiversity crisis are interconnected and we must address the root causes to rebalance our relationship with all of creation,” Woodhouse Nepinak said.
The gathering, with federal representatives present, focused on clean energy leadership, stronger consultation, environmental racism, and the links between climate, biodiversity, and Indigenous rights.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault attended virtually, promoting Canada’s proposed Clean Electricity Regulations, due to be finalized this year.
72% of Canadians believe policymakers must prioritize immediate issues like housing affordability over long-term efforts to address climate change, concludes a new survey by polling firm Abacus Data.
A 14% drop in climate concern compared to this time last year indicates Canadians are more worried about viscerally felt socio-economic challenges than the threat of climate change, writes Abacus, citing a national survey of 1,701 Canadian adults it conducted in September.
Despite millions invested in flood mitigation, after a destructive flash flood in 2014, VAncouver’s north shore communities were hit with flooding again during this weekend’s atmospheric river downpour.
Projects included culvert replacements, debris basin upgrades, and inlet protection along major waterways, such as Kilmer and Gallant creeks.
However, despite those upgrades, Saturday’s storm proved too much for the system to handle.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/north-shore-flooding-1.7357821
Hydrogen “hype” is coming down to earth, with a major export deal stalling out in Atlantic Canada while a highly-touted investment goes on hold in the West.
Earlier this month, the Globe and Mail reported that plans to ship renewably-produced “green” hydrogen from the East Coast to Germany had been delayed by at least a year, possibly longer, due to “a supply-demand mismatch and the largest wave of global inflation in decades.” Shipments were supposed to begin next year. But out of 10 “promising production projects” in the Atlantic provinces, “none have secured a final investment decision yet,” the Globe wrote, citing Jens Honnen, the energy policy adviser leading implementation of the German-Canadian energy partnership on behalf of the German government.
A new formula for pesticide Roundup Is 45 Times More Toxic than the former glyphosate Roundup.
Facing tens of thousands of lawsuits after it acquired Monsanto, Bayer promised to remove cancer-linked glyphosate from its commercial Roundup weed killers by 2023. But an analysis published by Friends of the Earth on Tuesday reveals that the replacement is even more dangerous.
The environmental group found that many residential Roundup products still do contain glyphosate, and those that don’t have replaced it with a chemical cocktail that is 45 times more toxic to human health following long-term exposure.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/new-roundup-more-toxic
More than half of young people in the U.S. are “very or extremely worried” about the climate crisis and an even larger percentage are motivated to do something about it, including at the ballot box.
The data came from a poll published on Thursday in The Lancet Planetary Health, which found that concerns about the climate crisis were impacting young people’s decisions about their personal and public lives, with 52.3% saying they were “hesitant to have children” and 72.8% planning to vote for candidates who back ambitious climate policies.
“Climate change is causing widespread distress among U.S. youth and affecting their beliefs and plans for the future,” the study authors concluded. “These effects may intensify, across the political spectrum, as exposure to climate-related severe weather events increases.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/youth-concerned-climate-us
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