“Picture a pasture open to all.” So wrote Garrett Hardin in his 1968 Science article, “The Tragedy of the Commons.” His thesis was that a shared natural resource, in self-interested human hands, could only be destroyed. It was a thought-provoking article that is still invoked to advocate and justify private ownership. The history of our […]
Chris Benjamin
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Branding the environment
The environmental movement is good at bugging governments until they ban things like uranium mining or cosmetic pesticides. But it has sometimes failed at the more difficult task of bringing mainstream hearts and minds around to its way of thinking. What’s the point of laws most people don’t yet believe in? In the fight for […]
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Nova Scotia’s Biomass mess
It’s just a report, not policy yet, but the Stakeholder Consultation Process for a New Renewable Energy Strategy for Nova Scotia, Final Report, by Dal profs David Wheeler and Michelle Adams, makes some good recommendations. It ambitiously states that 40 percent of our energy can be from renewable sources by 2020. Most notably, the report […]
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2010 resolution: quit and start over
That was no vacation, it was the holidays: a forced shopping mall feeding frenzy spread over end-of-year overtime and out-the-door queues, visits with family, friends, friends-of-family, family-of-friends, gift-wrap shredding, plastic chucking, meat and sugar binging, gift returns and more cut-rate shopping. No wonder come January we’re ready to swear off every earth plundering bad habit […]
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Green Santa ratings 2009
Ho, ho, et cetera. I’m a big recycler with no qualms about regifting or giving people junk from my basement for Christmas. So: a recycled column idea. I’m serializing last year’s Sustainable Santa. Here are the eco-naughtiest and earthly nicest Nova Scotian individuals and organizations of 2009, according to local environmental activists, entrepreneurs and green […]
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Local activists return from Copenhagen disappointed
Nova Scotian activists return home from the Copenhagen climate conference with one adjective in their hearts: disappointed. Thea Whitman, a Kings County member of the Canadian Youth Delegation, is distressed that so little has resulted from 15 years of conferences. “While the Copenhagen Accord cites a goal of limiting warming to two degrees,” she says, […]
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Claire Campbell Post-Copenhagen Debrief
Copenhagen, climate change, environment, Claire Campbell, Dalhousie College of Sustainability, activism
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Emily Rideout Post-Copenhagen Debrief
I asked Sierra Club Atlantic representative and Dal student Emily Rideout for her post-Copenhagen thoughts. What were her feelings about the conference and the outcome, and what’s next for the climate movement? Here is Emily’s response: There was some progress made in terms of process that may help us create a real climate deal within […]
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Thea Whitman Post Copenhagen Debrief
I asked Kings County activist and member of the Canadian Youth Delegation Thea Whitman for her post-Copenhagen thoughts. What were her feelings about the conference and the outcome, and what’s next for the climate movement? Here is Thea’s response: I am disappointed – you might even say devastated – to see this as the result […]
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They Failed Us
oops we failed again It ended with a whimper. Humanity should be so lucky. After 12 days of bitter arguments, leaked documents, sit-ins and arrests, negotiators agreed it would be the lowest common denominator all around. Poor countries didn’t want rich countries verifying their results. They got what they wanted. Rich countries didn’t want citizens […]
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No Deal
photo by Chris Benjamin Twitter was so right. Hours before the Globe and Mail posted the story rumours started circulating that leaders had failed to make a deal and had been asked to stick it out another day. The PMO’s office denies it but says “negotiations are still ongoing.” Somebody should tell Russia’s Medvedev that; […]
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Final Day, Maybe
It’s the final day of the Copenhagen climate conference. In the words of WWF Sweden CEO Lasse Gustavsson, “world leaders have arrived and negotiated overnight with little or no progress.” Shocking that even with 120 super-egos in the room they couldn’t save the world overnight. You think maybe they should have allotted more time for […]