LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD HERE:
We find out about how to stay in tjouch with activities in the City of Nelson. New councillor Leslie Payne talks about how to follow along with all the discussions and meetings in the City.
A new local group is starting up to boost public transportation and even public intercity buses in the Kootenays and across the province. Dave Gregory from the group Nelson and Area Action Group for Better Public Transportation talka about it.
And while we had Dave Gregory in the studio, we also brought in his partner Rosaleen Gregory to sing a great Jackson Browne song, Before the Deluge.
LINKS
Nelson.ca. The City’s website has lots of accessible information.
Nelson and Area Action Group for Better Public Transportation.
EVENTS
FEB 20 AT 12 AM – MAR 6 AT 12 AM
Autonomous Sinixt Online Silent Auction Fundraiser
The purpose of this online silent auction is to fundraise for the Autonomous Sinixt. All proceeds from this auction will be donated to smum’iem (for the women) to support new and ongoing Sinixt resurgence projects throughout the tmxʷulaʔxʷ (territory). These initiatives include the production of Sinixt cultural and educational materials, such as plant protocols, language revitalization, children’s books, and more!
The auction has lots of items up for grabs. Everything from a vintage buckskin jacket to a one night stay at the Hume Hotel with breakfast, a 2 night stay at Mount Brennan Lodge.
For more information about the Autonomous Sinixt and their past, current, and future projects, please visit:
https://sinixt.org/ and https://bloodoflifecollective.org/.
https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/autonomous-sinixt-silent-auction-2023-36180
Wednesday, February 22nd 7 pm
Webinar on municipal Climate Action Campaigns
This coming Wednesday at 7PM, get briefed on the three biggest municipal climate action campaigns out there! WE-CAN is hosting a Zoom event where presenters will introduce campaigns including: Sue Big Oil, the Fossil Fuel Non-proliferation Treaty, and how to get gas out of buildings. Resources will be available for your local group to get involved with the three campaigns.
More info at: WestCoastClimateAction.ca
Saturday February 25, 2023
Mass Mobilization for Old Growth Forests, BC Legislature Victoria.
A large coalition is bringing a broad-based mass mobilization to the BC Legislature on February 25, 2023 that reflects the majority of public will in BC for progressive solutions to the crisis in the woods. Based on the Union of BC Indian Chiefs Resolution 2022-32, and supported by independent reporting, the scientific data on old growth, and the urgency of the climate crisis, we demand that the BC NDP government:
Immediately halt logging in at-risk old growth forests and additional areas suggested by First Nations
Organized by: Sierra Club of BC, Stand.earth, Wilderness Committee, and Elders for Ancient Trees
Noon, Saturday March
Last Stand West Kootenay
Locally, Last Stand West Kootenay is holding a follow up rally at Noon Saturday March 4th at the Nelson Courthouse. The event will feature live music, speeches with updates on local old growth protection,and sign and mask making starting at 11:30.
THURSDAY Feb 23 AT 7 PM – 8:30 PM
Living Lakes Canada is hosting a webinar on local water concerns.
Have you noticed lower water levels in your favourite creek? Are you worried about your community’s water supply? Do you have questions about how climate change will impact local fish populations?
Living Lakes Canada is seeking public input to understand community concerns and priorities around freshwater in the Lower Columbia-Kootenay region. Everyone is welcome to contribute!
Register for the meeting or you can receive an online survey: https://livinglakescanada.ca/lower-columbia-kootenay…/
Sources I go to for environmental events include WestKootenayClimateHub.ca and westcoastclimateaction.ca
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
Nearly 3,000 free heat pumps have been installed in homes across Prince Edward Island and, starting this week, the provincial government expanded the program to any Islanders making $75,000 or less. If you make less than $55,000, you can get a free electric hot water heater, as well.
“The free heat pump program makes it easy for island homeowners to help the province reach our nation-leading net-zero goals. We’re closing in on nearly 3000 free heat pumps installed so far, and we want to keep that momentum going so even more Islanders can save money on their energy bills,” said the province’s Environment, Energy and Climate Action Minister Steven Myers.
This week, The Energy Mix’s Mitchell Beer “spotlighted Prince Edward Island as Canada’s next source of breakaway climate leadership.” P.E.I. hopes to have half its homes converted to non-fossil energy by the end of this year. From solar to wind, building retrofits to electric bikes, fertilizer to “toonie transit,” Canada’s smallest province is gaining international attention.
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World Bank chief quits. David Malpass has been under pressure to quit since a humiliating interview last fall when he couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge the reality of climate change. Donald Trump’s pick to head the World Bank eventually fell back on the old canard, “I’m not a scientist.” He’s finally resigned.
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Climate Action Network Canada and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have released a bold plan to “spend what it takes” on confronting the climate emergency. The plan proposes investing 2% of Canada’s GDP in reducing emissions and converting the econnomy. That’s An average of $57 billion per year over the next five years.
The authors of Spending What It Takes tallied climate spending since the Paris Agreement and found the Trudeau government has significantly boosted the budget, for the years between 2016 and now:
Canada is now spending about $10 billion per year and plans to hike the number to $15 billion. The feds are also adding new support to the oil and gas industry, like the carbon capture tax credit, which will run about $1.5 billion per year.
Despite the recent budget increases, the authors argue that “Canada’s current plans fall far short of what is necessary to compete amid the accelerating global shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy, and massive climate spending in the United States under the Inflation Reduction Act.
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The big British bank Barclays announced last week it is not funding any projects in the Canadian tar sands.
Barclays provided US$4.3 billion to oilsands companies between 2016 and 2021 but the London-based bank announced this week it’s had enough.
In 2020 the big bank announced it was not going to fund oil sands companies that didn’t have a credible plan to reduce emissions. Barclays reports: “As a result of this policy our lending exposure to oil sands exploration and production clients had reduced to zero at the end of 2022.
Another British bank — NatWest — cast new policies well beyond the oilsands, announcing it would immediately stop taking on new clients involved in oil and gas extraction; the bank said it would phase in the same policy for existing customers by refusing to renew, refinance or extend loans for fossil projects.
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“Energy giant Enbridge is plotting a multibillion-dollar expansion to its gas network in Ontario that would lock the province into a fossil fuel future for decades to come,”
Enbridge wants to raise customers’ rates $16 billion over the coming years to fund the expansion.
Last year, Enbridge’s planned pipeline for Ottawa was rejected because it conflicted with the city’s climate plans.
Ontario also plans to use more gas for power generation, the Toronto Atmospheric Fund’s Aakash Harpalani just published an insightful post about two other Ontario municipalities that grappled with gas.
In November, Brampton decided to build battery storage instead of a gas plant. But this January, “in Windsor, the utility presented gas as the only option and warned that the community could face power shortages if council delayed or turned down the deal.” Windsor went with gas.
“Both had their communities’ best interests at heart as they weighed the available evidence and reached opposite conclusions.
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Wind and solar farms with battery backup are both cheaper to build than natural gas power plants in Ontario and Alberta, and the price of the renewable options is expected to fall another 40% by 2035, concludes a report released last week by Clean Energy Canada (CEC).
“Even without carbon pricing, wind power is set to be 40% cheaper than gas-fired power in both provinces by 2030,” the report states. “Solar power, meanwhile, is already cheaper than natural gas power in Alberta and is on track to be 16% less expensive by the end of the decade.”
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