British Columbia

10 Aug 2021

What would ‘getting serious’ about the survival of civilization look like?

The pandemic is a big problem. Climate change is an even bigger problem. But the meta-problem is ecological overshoot.

Aug. 6, 2021

IPCC says gas, produced by farming, shale gas and oil extraction, playing ever-greater role in overheating planet

Cutting carbon dioxide is not enough to solve the climate crisis – the world must act swiftly on another powerful greenhouse gas, methane, to halt the rise in global temperatures, experts have warned.

 Aug 09, 2021

'It's as if we're paying someone to go around and throw gasoline on the ground,' analyst says

According to the environmental group Stand Earth, the B.C. government will give away $1.3 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry this year. (Coastal GasLink)

Aug. 7, 2021

A local MP was giving out $30 million but the media wasn't invited

So all signs point to a looming federal election in Canada, what with a tsunami of government funding announcements and appearances by ministers in ridings across the country.

I want to discuss the optics of how the feds have handled recent pre-election activity and their cowardly approach to awkward topics.

Aug. 6, 2021

• Residents of Monte Lake, British Columbia, told to evacuate

• Village of Lytton devastated by wildfire last month

A second community in western Canada has been destroyed by wildfire as authorities in the region scramble to contain the destructive toll of climate change.

Aug. 3, 2021

A murky discharge found flowing out of a culvert from Coquitlam into a Burnaby creek has been linked to the death of hundreds of young salmon, according to a local stream-keeper group.

A milky discharge pouring into a creek on the Burnaby-Coquitlam border has been linked to the death of hundreds of young salmon, according to a local stream-keeper group. 

Stoney Creek is the most important salmon-bearing stream in the Burnette River watershed, and local volunteers have spent years trying to bring fish back. 

The first time I read about  “Carbon Buster,” the solar farm Peter Nix built in 2016, I was delighted. Nix, a retired environmental consultant, in the sunny southern region of B.C.'s Cowichan Valley, spoke with pride about the potential of solar power. And it was just the beginning of the National Observer's efforts to feature ordinary people becoming climate heroes.

July 23, 2021