Emily Rideout inside the Copenhagen talks Emily Rideout, who is representing Sierra Club Atlantic in Copenhagen, graciously provided detailed answers to my questions on her experience there, and what she is witnessing from inside the conference: Q. Is this your first experience at an international conference of this nature? A: No, I represented Sierra Club […]
environment
Posted inNews + Opinion
Copenhagen Cops crack down
My friend Brad Axmith, a Canadian who has been living in Copenhagen for a number of years, wrote me this week. He calls himself a centrist and a “concerned bystander trying to take note of the changes being instituted in my children’s land of birth.” He is also a scholar with an astute eye for […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
We are Canadian. We are all villains now.
“O wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!” Robbie Burns composed those immortal lines before the advent of today’s powerful international media. These global village chroniclers are certainly giving Canadians the gift of seeing ourselves—and the picture’s not pretty. Apparently we’re seen as corrupt villains bent on derailing […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Summit talk starts to heat up
Negotiations are heating up in Copenhagen. Tuvalu has demanded that any agreement coming out of negotiations be legally binding. Their reasoning: they’d prefer not to sink. Back in 1992, at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, parties signed a treaty called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Signatories agreed to create protocols setting […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Futuristic Climate Advice
Copenhagen is a beautiful city. It’s the best place I’ve ever ridden a bicycle. The lanes are massive and there is a city-sponsored bike share program. It’s home to the famous Christiania Bike, a three-wheeler for the whole family. And there’s a city policy that every citizen must be able to reach a park or […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax environmentalists prepare for Copenhagen
Haligonians are preparing for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark next week. The meeting of world leaders is being billed as the last chance for humanity to implement meaningful policies to avert cataclysmic climate change. Lil MacPherson, owner of The Wooden Monkey, leaves Tuesday to attend the conference as an observer with […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Eco-conscious Store
So, you wanna buy a gift for your special someone over the holidays and you’re concerned about the environment. How about fair trade Christmas ornaments from Peru? P’lovers has gourds, silk elephants and cotton sheep. How about Canadian-made clothing? Or something from the popular Green Pan line? Or maybe you need to pick up some […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Local greens go Copenhagen or bust
“We’re hoping to send the politicians a message,” sayJannelle Frail, explaining this weekend’s environmental gathering on the Common. Frail is an organizer with the local branch of 350.org, an international group drawing attention to the need for strong results from the UN’s Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December; “350” refers to the maximum […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Tree hugger power
At the Nova Scotia Environment Network’s annual gathering last week, in a discussion on working with the new government, some expressed hope, but most were disappointed. Longtime NDP MLA and environmentalist Howard Epstein was passed over for a cabinet post, and there has been no progress on key NDP issues, like a permanent uranium mining […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Losing the enviro war
Here’s a typical environmental campaign: Step one, get annoyed by a problem behaviour. Step two, rally other people and groups who are equally annoyed. Step three, create some posters and stickers and flyers about it. Step four, put out a press release. Step five, hold a public event with a dash of fun, a splash […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Wind power breaks down in Nova Scotia
Breaking wind: Just one percent of Nova Scotia’s electricity is generated by wind. Monopolistic energy policies, a dilapidated power grid and broken promises from the new NDP government are making it difficult to get more wind power. We can do better, but it will take rediscovering our cooperative history and forming a new relationship with the wind.
Posted inNews + Opinion
Imagine a car-free Halifax
Cars are the number-one killer of people under 35 in this part of the world. A couple of thousand pounds of high-speed steel and glass may have seemed like a good idea at one time, but cars have made simple acts like walking risky business. Urban sprawl increases that risk. Abundant research shows a strong […]