My response to 'The World Hit Record Temps in 2023..' in The Tyee

Here's my reaction --orig. meant as a Comment-- to this piece by Gordon McLean of The Conversation:  https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2024/01/16/World-Hit-Record-Temps-2023/

Another ill-timed waste of an oppor'ty to inform/update us on the biggest issue worrying 80%+ of Cdns (& growing) -- bereft of real-life specifics to help us "proactively advance climate resilience" -- whatever that means..

& that's half the problem: Science's refusal to DEFINE Cause/ Effect & Problem/ Solution has left this crisis open to interpretation -- by the very industries most responsible & with the heaviest footprints (whose lobbyists ensure THEIR profiteering 'needs' are met -- in regular mtgs with our spineless govt reps!) 

I.E. That atmospheric levels of C02 & methane "have continued to increase & hit record levels in 2023" means ZIP to most people without specifying exactly HOW they've increased & WHO/WHAT is responsible!!?

Eg. Logging old-growth forests releases all their stored carbon, adding to cumulative emissions (yet is exempt from req'd official GHG reports!?); LNG emits methane gas @ every stage, all up & down production -- yet BC's govt calls this fracked-gas fossil fuel "sustainable" & keeps approving new LNG builds here!!?

(Though this past month alone I've had to tell 2 peops -- 1 a regular MSM consumer -- WHAT 'LNG' EVEN iS!)

It's quite obvious govts & MSM COUNT ON -- if not further -- such widespread public ignorance.  That's just corrupt.. & DISHONEST!

Here's proof:  our govts are spending more $$ to convince Cdns they're tackling these issues -- via pricey TV ads -- than on actually tackling them, thereby making a mockery of indiv'l efforts while guaranteeing more fires, floods & other human-wrought ('Climate') disasters.

Worse, in defiance of urgent IPCC warnings to reduce GHGs & wean off fossil fuels, AB's govt alone has BANNED RENEWABLES -- & the feds persist in flogging (non-existent) 'Carbon Capture' tech as Canada's (non-)solution!!?

HOW can we be motivated to protect our --& our kids' -- thriving future hanging on a thin thread of carbon-sinking ecosystems exploited to extinction by irresponsible corps that refuse to change (along with their corrupted govt. 'secret supporters')? 

And do those of us who ARE still motivated (the numbers of which are growing daily) -- not by flimsy articles like yours but because we can't undo what we've seen 1sthand -- even stand a chance in the face of so much corruption??

NB. It must be noted:  the SOLE Cdn. political entity that refuses to be bought out wholesale by ecocidal Big-Industry corps, the ONLY honest ones who stay true to their clean mission, are the GREENS -- federal AND provincial.

Please:  let that sink in.

Should Canada lose the UK monarchy?

The death of Queen Elizabeth has prompted The Tyee's 'quick quiz' poll asking if we think Canada should cut ties with the monarchy - @ this link:

https://thetyee.ca/Polls/2022/09/08/Canada-Cut-Ties-Monarchy/?results=true#poll-results

Here's my - kinda lengthy! - (optional) comment explaining why we must CUT THE CORD🤞 (esp. now that Charles the adulterer & his 'queen' are in)

Consider the following truths, which flowed from the gut - & the heart - because keeping well-informed is as essential to me now as breathing..

Canada's govts all talk about 'Reconciliation' without owning the genocidal atrocities VS. 1st Nations people by colonisation - carried out "by the Queen's men". 

Decolonization & honoring U.N.D.R.I.P. are ways to properly "reconcile" with FNs -- by addressing not just burying/ denouncing early colonial Govts' widespread land grabs (= why FN kids were forcibly removed from their families/ homes & put into jail-like residential schools that condemned & replaced their ancestral FN oral histories/ truths with Govts' false narratives of 'valid' control..) 

White 'settlers' were the main beneficiaries of colonial Govts' land-grabs/ power theft, while FNs were victimized & vilified, & corralled into Govt-ordered 'reservations'. Unlike other provinces, BC's founding officials didn't bother signing treaties for unceded FN land - they just appropriated & began enriching themselves by their unsustainable development/ extraction.. 

Colonial Govt-ordered apartheid/ oppression/ segregation of residential schools & reservations produced new generations of compliant Anglicized FN who returned as foreigners to their families, stripped of their elders' culture/ knowledge/ language/ traditions.. 

Many other FN kids were adopted by WASP families in an underhanded process that confirmed Govts' total disdain for indigenous rights - eg. the '60s scoop', info on which most non-indigenous citizens - & possibly many FN - are woefully ignorant.. 

Fast-forward to today & the past few years of Govt-claimed Reconciliation: 

●While backing assimilated pro-logging, pro-industry FN bands, the BC-NDP has steadfastly ignored legit opposition by hereditary FN leaders (jurisdiction holders of vast territories outside of bands, affirmed by the Supreme Court) to industrial mega-projects like CGL pipeline built thru their lands without consent; 

●Govt's automatic response to rightful FN protection of their own lands VS. CGL's many ongoing violations (reported on BC Govt's website: LOOK IT UP & be appalled!) has been to send in RCMP troops in military gear to suppress their eco-activist-backed peaceful protests - by all accounts, the same-old ugly harassment, intimidation & violence as b4.. despite BC-NDP's adoption of U.N.D.R.I.P. into BC law.. 

(It's to hereditary FNs' credit that they've resisted cont'd colonial oppression/ victimization & kept their cultural values, to inspire 'land protectors' of all stripes fighting for healthy communities & ecosystems against all odds: RESPECT)

 Point is, our Govts (& main 3 political parties) have been hypocrites & liars favoring polluting big-industry/ globalization over interests of citizens & communities for too long.. & still push ecocidal, risky & polluting projects on Crown land - in which the Queen has never intervened or shown concern. Clearly, they don't care about Cdns - & it shows. That's unacceptable in 2022! 

Yet when elected, officials pledge allegiance to the Queen instead of to serving their constituents, giving Govts even more of an excuse to work for corporations & not people. A true democracy is governed by its people - not answerable to a distant uninterested monarchy or any other entity.. 

Canada must be the only British colony that hasn't requested independence from the Crown!  And that's a sad reflection of Cdns' apathy/ complacency - of which our govts have taken enough advantage (ie. Screwed us over repeatedly!) 

We have never been so desperate as now to have the Greens - with or without a distant monarchy - lead Canada toward a better, healthier & happier destiny for everyone - but esp. for our kids & future generations...

(Let that sink in)

URGENT: BLOCK RAVEN COAL MINE

[UPDATE May 17, 2013]

Proving 'Time Flies' even when you're noT having fun, it's hard to believe my blog post vigorously opposing Compliance Coal Corporation's Raven Coal Mine proposal was written two years ago, on June 27 2011 - & the Wilderness Committee's tireless campaign against the heinous project dates back even further...

The good news is that B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) has rejected an application for the Raven Coal Mine. - here's a link to this news item in The Tyee: Raven Coal Mine.

However, as the article states, yesterday (May 16th) the EAO sent a letter to Compliance president and CEO John Tapics stating that the application didn't include all the information required and would therefore not proceed to the next stage: a more detailed review followed by a public comment period.

As The Tyee's Colleen Kimmett reports, "According to the EAO's evaluation, the application was missing information on key areas, including local drinking water impacts, consultation with First Nations, and plans for mine decommissioning and site remediation.

"Compliance has the option of re-submitting its application, but for now, Wilderness Committee campaigner Torrance Coste is calling this 'another indication that this mine doesn't belong on Vancouver Island.'"

Please visit the Wilderness Committee to become more informed - & involved - on issues crucial to the future health of all British Columbians...


Here's my letter to the Provincial Government:

TO:  BC Minister of the Environment
RE:  FANNY BAY RAVEN COAL MINE PROJECT

A born-and-bred British Columbian with family ties to Fanny Bay and an active interest in sound ecological/environmental initiatives, I was distressed to learn of Compliance Energy's plans to build Raven Coal Mine in this idyllic spot.

No decision on this should be made without knowledge of the area to be affected.  Anyone unfamiliar with Fanny Bay ought to be required to bring it up on Google Maps' 'street view' and navigate throughout the region – an exercise that would highlight the mind-boggling perversity of choosing Fanny Bay as the location for a coal mine.  Its tranquil setting – which has become a valuable vacation destination as well as a favoured retirement haven – could not be more UNSUITED to having a mine operating in its midst.



 Fanny Bay, BC

 

The detrimental effects of such a project on nearby/neighbouring ecosystems and environmental quality would be catastrophic and irreversible – and must be considered in assessing the viability of Raven Coal Mine. The far-reaching, well-documented dangers and health risks of coal mining – including devastating ecological, economic and social impacts – would have lasting consequences on the Comox and Alberni Valleys.

The whole Baynes Sound watershed would be adversely affected by this operation. Heavy metal leakage and acid rock drainage would threaten aquatic life and the important local aquaculture industry, which employs more than 600 residents and relies for its very existence on the health of its waters. Toxic waste substances deposited directly into the environment would impact local drinking water, salmon bearing streams and marine health. Such deleterious effects could not be mitigated or reversed. GHG's, including the release of methane gas, would add over 80 million tonnes of polluting gases to Earth's atmosphere – unsustainable by all accounts. To put an entire community through this amount of hardship/stress is not only unethical, but irresponsible.

Clean, sustainable alternatives to high-impact operations like coal mining must be implemented now in order to have clean air, clean water and a healthy natural environment. Allowing a coal mine to be built, armed with contemporary knowledge of coal mining's predictable effects on our planet's human, plant and wildlife populations, is tantamount to genocide by poisoning the land/water via what ought to be considered an obsolete process.

SARAH CHESTERMAN

For more information and/or to help influence decisions:

• Check out this website http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/stopcoal
• Submit comments online at http://www.eao.gov.bc.ca/pcp/forms/Raven.html
• Twitter this topic like crazy (#stopcoal #ravencoal)

[This article was first posted here same day in 2011]

.