LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD APRIL 25 ECOCENTRIC HERE:
Solita Work from the West Kootenay Cycling Coalition cohosts the show. Lisa Phillips, operations manager with local School District 8 talks about school buses and whether they can help with other transit. Former Nelson City Councillor Nicole Charlwood, the provincial Green Party candidate in the riding, talks about speeding up changes we need to reduce emissions and climate crisis.
Tom Babin is a cycling activist from Calgary who produces Shifter a youtube channel about urban cycling. Building new bike infrastructure and routes takes years. Does the pace of change feel too slow? Tom thinks so and he looks at how we can speed up change. Get it done!
LINKS:
Tom Babin’s Youtube Channel SHIFTER.
EVENTS
Saturday April 29th. Two shows.
Louis Bockner: Postcards from Palestine
Special presentation of writings and photos from local photographer Louis Bockner on his visit to Palestine. Two shows 3 pm and 7 pm Get tickets at the The Langham – Kaslo Cultural Centre!
Thursday, May 4. 3 pm and 6:30 pm
Columbia Basin Trust Nelson Open House & Community Conversation at Prestige Lakeside Resort in Nelson – Attend for a chance to WIN a $500 gift certificate to a Basin business.
Drop in anytime, registration NOT required. Afternoon Open House from 3 pm to 6 pm
Evening Guided Conversation from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm: come visit with friends, family and Trust staff and share what’s important to you and your community,
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Saturday May 6 10:00 am to noon
Pulpit Rock Invasive Plant Pull
Have you used the Pulpit Rock Trail? If yes, this event is for you. It’s time to give back to the trails you use and love! Join the crew from 10 to Noon.
FRIDAY, MAY 12 NOON ONLINE WEBINAR
West Kootenay Climate Hub noon hour webinar features Doctors and Nurses for Planetary Health
Learn about some of the great things that members of the health care community are doing to push for climate action. You can register at WestKootenayClimateHub.ca check Events.
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Tuesday May 16 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Terry Nelson and Big Trees of the Inland Rain Forest
Five years ago, Fernie resident Terry Nelson undertook an adventure of epic proportions—to seek out the largest, most awe-inspiring trees in the British Columbia interior to raise public awareness about the importance of old-growth forests. He documented his findings in the new book, Big Trees of the Inland Temperate Forests of British Columbia. Terry presents the book and photographs at Nelson United Church at 7:30 pm.
ENVIRONMENT NEWS BITS
When B.C. Hydro’s Site C dam floods an 80 kilometre-long swathe of the Peace River valley to generate electricity, the company says it wants to leave behind 45 pieces of structural construction debris on the riverbed.
In a written submission to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, B.C. Hydro states the structures that would be flooded and left underwater may include portions of causeways, gravel pads, concrete abutments and riprap from bridge construction, diversion channels with rock-filled gabions, a barge pad, a boat ramp, access roads, and giant concrete anchors each covering more than a hectare.
If the provincial Crown corporation’s proposal is approved, it would leave about 20 hectares — or more than two million square feet — of construction debris underwater at the bottom of the Peace.
B.C. Hydro’s environmental permit requires Site C to remove its construction structures “as soon as they are no longer required.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/site-c-construction-debris-1.6815697
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Ximen Mining (TSXV: XIM) has been granted the final permit required to proceed with its Kenville gold project, home to one of the first underground gold mines in British Columbia history.
The project is located in Blewett, 8 km west of Nelson. Between 1890-1954, the Kenville mine produced approximately 66,000 oz. of gold along with silver, copper, lead and zinc.
The company has obtained the Final Mines Act permit, which is comprehensive and covers many issues, including water management and reclamation, that would need to be addressed before starting. A draft of the permit was issued in February.
Christopher Anderson, CEO of Ximen Mining, says “After years of working on this particular permit, the Kenville gold mine is now on track to becoming one of the greenest and environmentally-friendly gold mines in southern BC,” \s currently underway.
In 2019, Ximen acquired 100% of the past-producing Kenville gold mine, consisting of Crown-granted mineral claims and surface rights, along with all existing permits, infrastructure and equipment.
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Imperial Oil president and CEO Brad Corson presented himself as humbled and “deeply apologetic” last week in Ottawa during testimony at a parliamentary committee studying the leak of oilsands wastewater into the northern Alberta ecosystem.
In his opening statement, Corson acknowledged his company has set relations with Indigenous people back by failing to notify impacted First Nations for months following the first sign of the spill.
“We have broken this trust with these incidents,” said Corson, telling MPs that the “communication breakdown” sparked the spread of misinformation, fuelling fear, confusion and anger in the communities.
Corson confirmed the company is still pumping wastewater into the pond that leaked. He also confirmed the ponds are designed with the knowledge they might fail.
“The tailings ponds that we use are designed with recognition that some level of seepage could and can occur,” he said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/imperial-corson-committee-kearl-spill-1.6817346
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Beyond Nuclear from Maryland in the US, says Germany’s energie revolution is working, and it began with the anti-nuclear movement. Germans wanting to send reliance on nuclear reactors push governments to massively expand renewable energy, not fossil fuels, and the last German nuclear power reactors shut down permanently last month.
Beyond Nuclear says: Not building any new reactors as of 1990 and deciding gradually to close down the existing plants in 2000 opened the way for the renewable energy revolution. German power consumers would not so easily have accepted paying billions of euros to support new renewable technology, if there had not also been huge support for a nuclear phaseout.
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Seven Saskatchewan residents — aged 15 to 80 — are working with Climate Justice Saskatoon to take the province to court over its role in climate change.
The group filed with the Court of King’s Bench on March 31 claiming that government action to expand gas-fired electricity generation violates Section 7 of the Charter and Rights and Freedoms which guarantees the right to life, liberty and security.
The applicants are asking the court to order the Crown corporation SaskPower to set a reasonable target to decarbonize and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2035.
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The world has to slash carbon emissions by almost half in the next seven years to remain on track for just 1.5C of global heating and avoid the worst of climate impact, that is clear in the most recent installment of the IPCC report.
But the report also has charted out a road map, compiled by a team of the world’s best scientists, based on 175 studies.
Solar and wind power are by far the best option, with the potential to cut a staggering 8bn tonnes from annual CO2 emissions by 2030. That is equivalent to the combined emissions of the US and European Union today. And to top that off, the report shows it will be cheaper than today’s electricity systems.
After wind and solar, the biggest prize is stopping the destruction of forests and other wild places, the IPCC scientists found. That has the potential to cut 4bn tonnes of emissions a year by 2030, not far off double the fossil fuel emissions from the whole of Africa and South America today.
Its power is amplified by the fact that it was signed off by all of the world’s governments, from the cleanest and greenest to the darkest petrostates, like Canada.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/20/down-to-earth-ipcc-emissions
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After four days of peaceful demonstrations, English climate activists gathered in Parliament Square as a deadline for the government to act to end all new fossil fuel projects was reached.
The actions involved a wide range of groups, including Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, as well as the Christian climate coalition, with thousands gathering for Earth Day in London on Saturday.
The former archbishop John Sentamu was refused access to the Shell headquarters in London as he tried to deliver a letter to its chief executive, Wael Sawan. Police were present as he tried to hand over his message.
XR was demanding that by 5pm ministers agree to stop new fossil fuel projects – including halting the more than 100 new oil exploration licences being offered to companies – the first set of licences offered since 2019-20.
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How to Blow Up a Pipeline, is a new feature docutmentary just released in theatres.“The climate crisis is the largest existential threat we’ve ever faced,” director Daniel Goldhaber told The Financial Times. “There’s no one system, no one person causing climate change, so how do you come up with a target? Well, it’s the machines that are killing us. That’s the morally defensible target.” Chris Hatch from the National Observer has a great little review.
https://mailchi.mp/nationalobserver.com/48wc7p0dhs?e=d70f5f8d2d
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Many European countries are taking down dams and letting waterways return to their natural ways.
A record number of river barriers, including dams and weirs, were removed across Europe in 2022, with at least 325 taken down in 16 countries, allowing rivers to flow freely and migratory fish to reach breeding areas.
In its annual report, Dam Removal Europe said Spain led the way for the second year with 133 removals, followed by Sweden and France. The UK completed 29 removals, including Bowston Weir, which was built on the River Kent nearly 150 years ago for a paper mill.
“Removing barriers to restore rivers’ natural flow and connectivity brings many ecosystem service benefits, such as flood protection, water purification, and recreational opportunities,” said Wanningen.
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