[…] A growth that, once placed beside other ideas like the militarization of the police and a legal reduction of civil rights, can seem almost Orwellian in […]
Author: Laurel L. Russwurm
Trudeau’s approval of Kinder Morgan would be an act of climate denial
Trudeau’s approval of Kinder Morgan would be an act of climate denial:
It’s not the kind of climate denial that most people are used to. It’s not the brand peddled by Exxon Mobil that landed them a fraud investigation. Nor is it the flavour espoused by Donald Trump when he claims that climate change is a Chinese hoax. Instead,Trudeau’s climate denial is a creeping, quiet kind.
His climate denial is the diet brand, a sort of Denial-Lite. This kind of climate denial is like a filtered cigarette, it doesn’t make the problem any better, but it does make it easier to tell yourself that it’s ok to keep smoking. It’s the kind of climate denial that stands on a global stage, signs the Paris Agreement with a pen flourish and press statement, but then does the very thing that climate science tells us we can’t do — build new fossil fuel projects.
Why not? Because, math.
According to a recent report from Oil Change International, the entire world can only emit around 800 more gigatons of CO2 if we are to have a half decent chance of meeting the two degree target laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement. A target which, just last week, became international law.
The problem is that the oil, coal and gas developments currently online or in construction, without new projects like Kinder Morgan or Energy East, will emit 942 gigatons. In math terms, 942 is bigger than 800. If you want to take it even further, to the 1.5 degree target that countries like Canada agreed to strive for, again now enshrined in international law, the ceiling for emissions is 353 gigatons. That’s a lot less than 942.
This all adds up to one simple fact: Approving a tar sands pipeline designed to expand fossil fuel extraction is denying the reality of climate change. It is looking at the science, doing what is, quite possibly, the simplest math on earth and deciding that the science is wrong. But, the science isn’t wrong. It may be inconvenient or downright frustrating, but it is still science, immovable and immutable.
Muskrat Falls protesters block trucks at North Spur site
Muskrat Falls protesters block trucks at North Spur site:
Protests have resumed at the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, with protesters gathered at the North Spur site Saturday.
Posts to social media showed a handful of protesters gathered to prevent a number of transport trucks from entering the site.
The protest comes after Nalcor Energy discovered “increased water seepage” from a temporary cofferdam Friday.
Canadian Water Protectors
hitching post
hitching post
korellyn: allthecanadianpolitics: Happening now in Vancouver,…
Happening now in Vancouver, Canada thousands protest the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion. This pipeline if built would add the equivalent of 30+ million cars on the road or 42 new coal power plants.
Mark my words, if Justin Trudeau approves this pipeline he’s going to see mass protests and arrests just like the situation going on in North Dakota with the Dakota Access Pipeline. The mayor of Burnaby has said he is willing to lay down in front of bulldozers to stop the project.
The mayor of Vancouver and former Premier of BC agree:
Gregor Robertson warns of Trans Mountain protests ‘like you’ve never seen before’
Yeah, BC has a long and proud history of environmental activism. I would think about this very very carefully, JT.
monarch
monarch
Not guilty. The Israeli captain who emptied his rifle into a Palestinian schoolgirl
Not guilty. The Israeli captain who emptied his rifle into a Palestinian schoolgirl:
If you don’t understand why we must stop looking the other way and justifying the oppression of Israel’s indigenous population…
The dogfight over electoral reform is about power — full stop
The dogfight over electoral reform is about power — full stop:
Only Proportional Representation can make most counts in a diverse nation like ours. My own personal favourite is Single Transferable Vote Proportional Representation, because it is doesn’t give parties as much of an edge.
That said, even a party-centric form of Proportional Representation will far better represent many more Canadian voters (85 - 95% voter satisfaction vs Canada’s 39% satisfaction rating in the last 2 majority governments)
The British Columbia Carbon Tax: A Failed Experiment in Market-Based Solutions to Climate Change
The British Columbia Carbon Tax: A Failed Experiment in Market-Based Solutions to Climate Change:
Carbon Tax must be revenue neutral, not a government revenue stream
Money collected as carbon tax must be used to fund the transition to a sustainable future, by mitigating financial burden on citizens and investing in green energy, otherwise climate change will prevail.
Young offender charged in connection with racist graffiti attacks in Ottawa
Young offender charged in connection with racist graffiti attacks in Ottawa:
Police Chief Charles Bordeleau says an arrest has been made in connection with a series of racist and anti-Semitic incidents that have taken place in Ottawa over the past week.
Bordeleau later told reporters that a young offender had been arrested in the early morning hours of Saturday at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre on Nadolny Sachs Private near Broadview Avenue.
In a release, police said the suspect, whose identity was not released, appeared in court Saturday and faces several charges including uttering threats of a dangerous weapon and mischief to religious buildings.
Police sources said the young offender is believed to be responsible for all of the spray-paint attacks this week. Police said they were helped by video footage from previous attacks and the suspect under surveillance at the time of the Saturday morning attack.
This week there were hate-crime graffiti attacks at Parkdale United Church, at Parkdale and Gladstone Avenues, the Ottawa Mosque on Northwestern Avenue, and three Jewish sites: Kehillat Beth Israel congregation near Carling and Kirkwood Avenues, Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Featherstone Park and a small prayer centre in the Glebe,
Hate is not all around. But haters lurk in the shadows.
Just one kid did this. One kid.
Yay police. Good job.