Today young, old and even their dogs gathered in front of the doors of city hall for a climate strike organized by Climate Strike Halifax (AKA schoolstrikeforclimatehfx) to discuss pending climate concerns. “We figured things were clearing up enough and it was time to get back out and remind everybody that climate change is still […]
Environment
Posted inNews + Opinion
Ocean’s Week Halifax kicks off online
As if it was preordained, the United Nations theme for World Oceans Week 2020 is “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean”. While the UN likely chose this theme to highlight the new and exciting ocean technologies that are changing the way scientists understand the ocean (including underwater sampling gliders captained by Dalhousie University here in the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
David Suzuki: Many crises expose systemic failings
The coronavirus spreading COVID-19 around the globe isn’t the first disease microbe suspected to have jumped from other animals to humans, nor will it be the last. That we know to a large extent why so many diseases are making that leap should help us resolve the problem. Dealing with a swiftly spreading illness with many […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Should we be scared of murder hornets?
AAs if we didn’t have enough to contend with, now we’re facing a “murder hornet” invasion—but it’s more an invasion of newsfeeds than an actual descending plague of killer insects. Numerous media outlets have carried ominous stories about whether the giant hornets will pillage honeybee hives. It’s not an imminent threat throughout North America, but […]
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Why talk to downplay COVID-19 and climate seems so similar
For a long time, the story went that the tobacco industry cooked up disinformation and then spread it to the fossil fuel guys, the chemical industry, pharma, you name it. But one thing that became incredibly clear when we began digging into PR firms and specific publicists was that this version of history is not […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
“Solar chickens” and the future of farming
When Jackie Augustine opens a chicken coop door one brisk spring morning in upstate New York, the hens bolt out like windup toys. Still, as their faint barnyard scent testifies, they aren’t battery-powered but very much alive. These are “solar chickens.” At this local community egg cooperative, Geneva Peeps, the birds live with solar […]
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The history of Earth Day, from radical roots to big green in 50 years
If you ask Adam Rome, Earth Day isn’t as punk as it used to be. “Earth Day is so tame nowadays,” says Rome, the author of The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation. “For adults, it’s often a trade show where you can see the latest green […]
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The coronavirus has lessons for journalists covering the climate crisis
The coronavirus pandemic is a tragic reminder of just how essential fact-based, outspoken journalism is, especially in times of crisis. Without it, people die. In China, the lack of an independent press made it easier for the government to hide the danger of the virus, putting many more people, especially health care workers, at risk. […]
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And then there’s the climate crisis
Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, but it feels a world away. As if the coronavirus wasn’t enough, now Nova Scotia is in a state of mourning. We are struggling to make sense of the senseless, to understand the unthinkable. How are we supposed to pay attention to the climate crisis? The Coast […]
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NS supreme court says environment minister “committed palpable and overriding error” around Alton Gas
Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia overturned the environment minister’s approval of the Alton Gas project, citing inadequate consultation with Sipekne’katik First Nation. Alton Gas must now resume consultations for 120 days, or until both parties are satisfied. Given the present circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, no start date has been set […]
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Defending Indigenous sovereignty from Wet’suwet’en Territory to Mi’kma’ki
Since last week, the RCMP has been executing almost daily raids and arresting Indigenous land defenders on Wet’suwet’en territory in BC, enforcing a court order to remove people from the land granted to Coastal GasLink for its pipeline construction. Since the raids began, people in Halifax have been taking action—at MP Andy Fillmore’s office and […]
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Talking climate change basics with Halifax climate scientist Jeffrey Taylor
T he Coast sat down with local climate scientist Jeffrey Taylor to talk the basics of climate change. His key points about what climate change is—and isn’t—all centre around the idea that “for the most part, we’ve all accepted that we as humans have impacted the planet, it’s caused the climate to change,” he says. […]
