LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD MAY 6, 2025 HERE:
Co-host Solita Work helms another show on local transportation issues. Hundreds of people die on BC roads every year and over 70,000 get injured. The highways of the southern interior are some of the province’s most dangerous.
Dr. Jim Wiedrich, an ER doctor at the Kootenay Lake Hospital, discusses the impact of highway casualties on so many of us.
ICBC has a strong interest in reducing the human and material cost on our highways Christine Kirby works on road safety promotion here in southern BC. She tells us some of the hazards and the most important steps for highway safety.
The RCMP’s BC Highway Patrol group also shares the concern about safe behaviour on BC roads. Corporal Michael McLaughlin explains some of the risks including, surprisingly, refusing to wear a seat belt.
COMING EVENTS
Sue Big Oil coming to vote in Nelson
Tues, May 6, 7 pm
Council Chambers, Nelson City Hall
The Nelson City Council will finally be voting on joining the Sue Big Oil (SBO) campaign – over 7 months after the initial delegation. The local team asked the city of Nelson to join a province-wide class action lawsuit against the world’s biggest fossil fuel polluters to recoup climate costs, and to commit $1 per person to help launch the suit.
Consider attending the meeting to hear the discussion and show your support. It is very disappointing to see that the staff report recommends voting it down.
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
Saturday, May 24th 1 PM to 7 PM
At Lions Park — from 1 PM to 7 PM!
The 3rd Annual Kootenay Co-op Radio Block Party
The Party is hosted in partnership with the Nelson Lions Club.It’s a FREE, community and family-friendly event, packed with fun for everyone — including live music from local favourites like Paris Pick, Kootenay Garage Band, Snakes and Horses, and Jayne Karma Lamo and the Interbeings.
Food trucks, face painting, and a bouncy castle for the kids!
Bring the whole family, and join us at Lions Park in Nelson on May 24th for a day of music, dancing, great food, and community celebration!
That’s the KCR Block Party — Saturday, May 24th, 1 to 7 PM
Wednesday, May 28
Free Webinar 6:30 to 8 pm
Zoom – registration required
The West Kootenay Climate Hub Resilience Café #4 Called Food for Thought: Sowing Seeds of Resilience in Our Local Food Culture
Amn interactive webinar with Tiffany Traverse an indigenous researcher and land steward and and Laura Francis a grower at Cartwheel farms. It’s a deep dive into the interconnected world of food culture and production.
https://www.westkootenayclimatehub.ca/upcoming-events
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SHORTS
The renewable energy swing is going full steam world wide, and today’s News bits focus on the huge changes that are happening.
Pakistan has become a huge new market for solar electricity as super-cheap Chinese solar panels flood in. It imported 17 gigawatts of solar panels in 2024, more than double the previous year, making it the world’s third-biggest importer, according to data from the climate think tank Ember.
Pakistan’s story is unique, said Mustafa Amjad, program director at Renewables First, an energy think tank based in Islamabad. Solar has been adopted at mass scale in countries including Vietnam and South Africa, “but none have had the speed and scale that Pakistan has had,” he told CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/01/climate/pakistan-solar-boom
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Almost all new homes in England will be fitted with solar panels during construction within two years, the government is about to announce.
The policy is estimated to add between £3,000 and £4,000 to building a home but homeowners would save more than £1,000 on their annual energy bills, according to the Times.
The Labour government has set a target of building 1.5 million homes in the next three to four years. The party has also promised to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 and cut household energy bills by £300 a year.
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A climate lawsuit brought by seven young activists will proceed in Ontario after Canada’s Supreme Court declined to hear the Ford government’s appeal.
The decision allows the case to proceed in Ontario’s Superior Court for a full hearing that could redefine governments’ legal obligations to combat climate change under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The lawsuit, filed in 2019, challenges the Ontario government’s rollback of its 2030 emissions target — from a 37 per cent reduction below 1990 levels to just 30 per cent below 2005 levels. This weaker policy permits an estimated 200 million additional tonnes of carbon pollution by 2030 — equivalent to the annual emissions of 47 million gas-powered cars.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2025/05/02/news/ontario-youth-climate-case-charter
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B.C. is halting its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) rebate program this month. The government says its part of a spending review and ongoing economic instability.
The fate of the program had been uncertain, after a similar federal program was abruptly paused in January, with officials saying funds had run out early due to a “surge of interest.”
The province said it was reviewing the program in early April, after removing the consumer carbon tax created a $1.8-billion fiscal hole in its budget.
While sales continue to increase, the percentage of light-duty sales that are ZEVs has remained close to 23 percent for the last two years.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-zero-emission-vehicle-rebate-halted-1.7523451
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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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An all-renewable electricity grid is the backbone of Canada’s shift to a zero-carbon economy by 2050. But decarbonizing our buildings and road transport systems are whats going to cut emissions.
Extensive new modelling by Corporate Knights’ Climate Dollars project reveals that the rapid transformation we need is feasible and the buildings and transport sectors each must play an essential part.
The analysis shows that decarbonizing our energy system by mid-century will be a big, bold nation-building project. 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, says Corporate Knights.
https://www.corporateknights.com/climate-dollars/2025-climate-dollars/canada-wont-meet-its-climate-targets-without-heat-pumps-and-evs/
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Small modular reactors still look to be too expensive, too slow to build, and too risky to play a significant role in transitioning from fossil fuels in the coming 10-15 years, according a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
The report points out investment in SMRs will take resources away from carbon-free and
lower-cost renewable technologies that are available today and can push the transition from fossil fuels forward significantly in the coming 10 years.
IEEFA recommends that: Utilities that are considering SMRs should be required to compare the technology’s uncertain costs and completion dates with the known costs and construction timetables of renewable alternatives.
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Longest running Enviro News show on the Radio! 