Environment

“What are you doing to be more environmentally conscious?” That was the question for the day on CBC Radio’s Maritime Noon last week. The next day the CBC aired Ian Hanomansing’s new show, Feeling the Heat, which is devoted to helping people find “ways to balance practical and environmental concerns in their everyday lives.” You […]

Maybe you missed it, but last week Rodney MacDonald voted in favour of global warming. At a Moncton conference called in part to address environmental issues, Nova Scotia’s premier joined up with his counterparts from Alberta and Newfoundland to kill a plan to impose a national “cap and trade” system to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas […]

One of Aftab Erfan’s workplace colleagues is a man with five children. Four of them have moved to Alberta for the “oil rush,” attracted by the lure of steady, well-paying work and a new life. But is it a better life, when you leave your home, family and friends behind? “From the perspective of the […]

Some smart person named this newspaper “The Coast” because there’s nothing more emblematic of Nova Scotia than the coast—the actual coast, the seashore, the place where the continent meets the ocean. Truly, Nova Scotia is the coast. Our plucky forebears scratched out a living along the coast, building hundreds of fishing villages and a way […]

The dream that Halifax will become a megaport for Chinese trade to the American Midwest is laughably stupid, and yet Nova Scotia’s political and business elites are falling over themselves promoting the “Atlantica” idea in the name of our supposed economic future. Meanwhile, they ignore the best and fundamentally pragmatic way to build the local […]

Our political and business elites have been telling us that Nova Scotia’s economic future depends on Americans buying a bunch more plastic crap from China. But here’s a news flash: It ain’t gonna happen. In case you’ve somehow missed the sell of “Atlantica,” it goes like this: Despite being bankrupted by their fruitless imperialistic adventure […]

One Thursday night last month, a remarkable thing happened in London, England: At 9pm local time, the lights went out. For the first time since the blackouts of WWII, the neon advertising signs in Piccadilly Circus were turned off. The Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace went dark and building managers and home owners joined […]

Guarding the entrance to Halifax Harbour, McNabs Island hosts impressive and diverse ecosystems, amazing views of the harbour and interesting and complex archaeological sites, including military fortifications, a bottle works and a cholera cemetery. I had never been there before so I jumped at the opportunity to ferry over with the Friends of McNabs Island […]

Thousands upon thousands of Haligonians are poisoning the environment, endangering children and breaking the law. And they’re being aided and abetted by corporations that put profit above community values. Halifax’s pesticide by-law prohibits the use of pesticides and herbicides on all property in the SuperCity, from Ecum Secum to Hammond Plains, without a permit. The […]

One of the best ways to make a lot of money in Nova Scotia is to trash the planet. Consider: Last year Ralph Tedesco, CEO of Nova Scotia Power, and Chris Huskilson, CEO of NSP’s parent company, Emera, were paid $2.6 million and $1.2 million respectively in salary and bonuses. If we’re to accept the […]