Environment

Last month the Chronicle-Herald editorialized that the province and Utility and Review Board should “rethink the policy of levying conservation charges on power bills.” In the face of rapidly escalating energy costs, that’s something a lot of Nova Scotians have been doing at home. The Herald‘s argument is that Efficiency Nova Scotia costs ratepayers tens […]

Every day millions of massive ships move trillions of tonnes of seawater around the world’s oceans as ballast. Without it, any ship without full cargo could easily topple. The problem with this is, anything that survives in the water is discharged far from home. As a result, “We’ve got comb jellies in the Black Sea, […]

<pIn his book A Brief History of Progress, historian Ronald Wright examines “progress traps,” innovations that help some humans, then kick our asses, causing problems we can’t or won’t solve because we’re afraid to lose face and status. It starts with a “seductive trail of successes” and ends in catastrophe. As a rule, civilizations lack […]

International environment summits: leaders waste time while grassroots and indigenous leaders inspire. This column runs immediately following the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, commemorating the Earth Summit of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. Important international agreements like the Convention on Biological Diversity (never ratified by the US) and Framework Convention on Climate Change were […]

Halifax marks the 263rd anniversary of its founding, or “birthday,” exactly at 12:29:41am A.D.T. on June 21, 2012—this Thursday. Should Halifax celebrate? Some anniversaries or birthdays represent milestones; others pose deadlines. The verdict? Deadline, Haligonians. The natal horoscope of Halifax, dated June 21, 1749; at 10:00am L.M.T., contains Saturn and Pluto, both in Retrograde Scorpio. […]

In spring 2010 residents at Black Street and Northwood Terrace were jolted by the sound of breaking glass. Not the Nick Lowe tune. Two vehicles colliding, steel crunching, windows shattering and, before they could asses the damage, sirens blaring. “Lots of drama,” recalls Kim Thompson, who lives on Northwood. “This raised discussion of speed bumps […]

As we approach three years with a provincial NDP government, the Sierra Club’s Gretchen Fitzgerald sums up its environmental track record: “I’m glad the province isn’t antagonistic to the environment like the feds are, but they certainly haven’t made it a priority.” Nova Scotia’s first-ever NDP majority started off well, banning uranium mining and cosmetic […]

Most of the advocacy of the environmental movement focuses on governments. Industry is more likely to be the target of protests and boycotts than gentler forms of persuasion. There are good reasons for that. As difficult as governments are to access at times, no one does secrecy and closed doors quite like the private sector. […]

Food. We know the discussion. Local vs. imported. Organic vs. conventionally grown. These polarities quickly define the intellectual landscape. Local and organic is clearly better than imported, conventionally grown. But if that isn’t available (or out of your price range), what then? The vagaries quickly take over and we’re left buying what looks good and […]

Earth Day is supposed to celebrate the planet and raise awareness of the need to protect it. But doing so requires a greater change in perspective, a mass realization that just because we need the planet doesn’t mean it needs us. That is, a cultural shift. The makers of culture have a key role to […]

Jason Russell, an American filmmaker and activist, has been publicizing Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army since 2003. For decades, the LRA wreaked havoc through central Africa, kidnapping tens of thousands of child soldiers and sex slaves. The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Kony and other LRA officers in 2005. Russell’s […]