LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD APRIL 29 SHOW HERE:
A panel of four local guests talks about the election result, and what happened in the historic vote on April 28.
Earth Week in the West Kootenay just wrapped up on Sunday, with a big parade in Nelson. The EcoCentric was there and we hear from some of the folks enjoying the day.
Greg Amos with the Sue Big Oil campaign was at Earth Week parade too and he tells us the decision on whether Nelson will join the campaign is coming up at City Council on Tuesday, May 6.
LINKS MENTIONED ON THE SHOW
EARTHWEEKNELSON.CA
COMING EVENTS
Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 6:30 pm
West Kootenay Climate Hub Resilience Cafe #3
Rooted Resilience: Supporting Forest Health for Community Well-Being
Zoom Webinar
Two distinguished guest speakers, Suzanne Simard and Herb Hammond, will share their expertise on forest ecology, conservation, and the role forests play in climate and local resilience. Discover the fascinating communication networks within forests, and explore their potential in addressing global challenges. Interactive discussions with our guest speakers and fellow participants to deepen your understanding and explore practical ways to support forest health in our communities.
Registration Required: https://www.westkootenayclimatehub.ca/event-details/resilience-cafe-3-rooted-resilience
Saturday, May 3, 2025 1:30 pm
Rotacrest Hall, Creston
Science Pub: The Science of Watersheds for a Changing Climate, new directions in Hydrology
The West Kootenay Watershed Collaborative
Speakers for this Watershed Collaborative science pub are Dr. Younes Alila, Professor of Hydrology at UBC and Isaac Dekker, watershed stewardship coordinator for the Lower Kootenay Band/Yaqan Nukiy.
Tickets Members: $15, Non-Members $20
WestKootenayWater.ca
Sunday, May 4, 2025 1:30 pm
Langham Cultural Centre, Kaslo
Science Pub: The Science of Watersheds for a Changing Climate, new directions in Hydrology
The West Kootenay Watershed Collaborative
Speakers for this Watershed Collaborative science pub are Dr. Younes Alila, Professor of Hydrology at UBC and Conservation ecologist Greg Uitzig, M.Sc, P.Ag.
Tickets Members: $15, Non-Members $20
WestKootenayWater.ca
Deadline May 1, 2025
Nominations open for annual Suzy Hamilton Award
The award goes to female-identified or non-binary environmental activist in the West Kootenay
Suzy Hamilton started this environment radio show along with John Alton, back in 1999, when Coop Radio was on its first day. Suzy was the original EcoCentric.
The Suzy Hamilton Legacy Fund honours the volunteer work of one female-identified or non-binary environmental activist in the West Kootenay each year through a cash award. The Legacy Fund was established at the Osprey Community Foundation in 2016 after the death of well-loved and dedicated West Kootenay environmental activist and journalist Suzy Hamilton, founder of the West Kootenay EcoSociety.
The award committee is now accepting nominations for this year’s recipient. Entries should include the name and contact information of the nominee, as well as a short paragraph about the volunteer work the nominee does for the environment. We welcome the re-submission of nominees from previous years who have not been selected for the award. Please send nominations through the Osprey Community Foundation before May 1.
Last year’s winner was Andrea Fox, a local forest defender who has been a guest on this show many times.
May 24, 2025, 5:45 p.m. –
May 25, 2025, 8:00 p.m.
Kootenay EcoFest
Bear Spring Eco Retreat,
5248 Queen Victoria Rd, Beasley,
A festival focused on building community by reconnecting to nature through local waste reduction solutions, live demonstrations, learning opportunities, and local arts and cultural experiences.
Apply to facilitate a workshop by emailing info@bearspringeco.ca. They are looking for volunteers to help with the festival, as well as 2 more fixers for the repair cafe. There are 10 spots left in the recycled market.
Tickets go on sale March 15th at bearspringeco.ca/kootenay-ecofest
ENVIRONMENT NEWS BITS
Cycling advocates celebrated an Earth Day win earlier this week after a judge granted a temporary injunction preventing the Ontario government from tearing out three Toronto bike lanes.
EcoJustice who spearheaded the legal move said: “The temporary injunction guarantees that the provincial government cannot move forward with removing bike lanes before the judge can make his decision on the merits of the applicants’ Charter challenge,”
“The decision goes on to say that failing to suspend the provision mandating removal of the three bike lanes will cause more harm to the public interest than allowing the removal to begin while the matter is under reserve.”
Climate and public health advocates around the world are celebrating—and urging municipalities everywhere to take note—after a Dutch judge tossed out a tourist industry challenge to The Hague’s municipal ban on fossil fuel advertising, a global first when it became law last September.
In a precedent-setting ruling that marks the first time a court has vetted a municipal fossil-fuel ad ban, a judge at the District Court of The Hague confirmed that local governments “can lawfully take necessary climate action, even where it might be contrary to economic interests of polluting companies,” Climate Action Against Disinformation said
The administration of Donald Trump is pushing to block renewable energy projects—including last week halting the placement of 54 wind turbines in the ocean south of Long Island, New York Trump has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax.”
Meanwhile, a Long Island resident, Lee Zeldin of Shirley, who Trump named administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is cancelling many environmental regulations, firing EPA employees and, last week, stopping the collection of greenhouse gas emission data.
Biut “New York State leaders say environmental protects and policies will remain on track” “State Attorney General Letitia James, Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state leaders pushed back, saying efforts will continue including…and building out renewable energy sources, as the state aims to get all electricity from emission-free sources by 2040 and reduce economywide emissions by 85% from 1990 levels by 2050.”
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Wind turbines in the Great Lakes have the potential to produce huge amounts of clean energy in one of the most populated regions in North America.
But offshore wind has been banned by a moratorium in Ontario since 2011 and faces headwinds in the U.S.
Still, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance thinks it’s time to reconsider, arguing offshore wind could end the province’s reliance on natural gas imports from the U.S. for its gas-powered generators at a time when the U.S. threatens Canada with punishing tariffs and talk of annexation.
“Given that we’re in a sovereignty crisis and affordability crisis and a climate crisis,” said Jack Gibbons, the group’s chair, “this is a solution that can address all three of those crises and we should just be moving forward as quickly as possible.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/offshore-wind-great-lakes-1.7513207
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If an all-renewable electricity grid is the backbone of Canada’s shift to a zero-carbon economy by 2050, our buildings and road transport systems are the flesh and blood.
Extensive new modelling by Corporate Knights’ Climate Dollars project reveals that the rapid transformation we need is within our grasp. But the buildings and transport sectors each hold an essential piece of the solution.
The analysis shows that decarbonizing our energy system by mid-century will be a big, bold nation-building project in which every sector plays an essential part. We can meet that target faster and at less cost by looking at the electricity system, buildings and road transport as an integrated whole, rather than trying to shift each sector on its own.
https://www.corporateknights.com/climate-dollars/2025-climate-dollars/canada-wont-meet-its-climate-targets-without-heat-pumps-and-evs/
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Longest running Enviro News show on the Radio! 