Canada and global warming: a state of denial

The following article from the Guardian asks "Why are the US news media so bad at covering climate change?" The same question could be asked about Canadian media with much the same answer. The Nation and the Columbia Journalism Review are trying to help partially rectify that, beginning with a journalism conference on April 30th at Columbia University focusing on the problem. Is it likely to work. Probably not. But not trying to change the way the media deals with climate change won't work for sure and engaging alternative media could help spread what needs to be done. 

Last summer, during the deadliest wildfire season in California’s history, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes got into a revealing Twitter discussion about why US television doesn’t much cover climate change. Elon Green, an editor at Longform, had tweeted, “Sure would be nice if our news networks – the only outlets that can force change in this country – would cover it with commensurate urgency.” Hayes (who is an editor at large for the Nation) replied that his program had tried. Which was true: in 2016, All In With Chris Hayes spent an entire week highlighting the impact of climate change in the US as part of a look at the issues that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were ignoring. The problem, Hayes tweeted, was that “every single time we’ve covered [climate change] it’s been a palpable ratings killer. So the incentives are not great.”

The Twittersphere pounced. “TV used to be obligated to put on programming for the public good even if it didn’t get good ratings. What happened to that?” asked @JThomasAlbert. @GalJaya said, “Your ‘ratings killer’ argument against covering #climatechange is the reverse of that used during the 2016 primary when corporate media justified gifting Trump $5 billion in free air time because ‘it was good for ratings,’ with disastrous results for the nation.”

When @mikebaird17 urged Hayes to invite Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University, one of the best climate science communicators around, on to his show, she tweeted that All In had canceled on her twice – once when “I was literally in the studio w[ith] the earpiece in my ear” – and so she wouldn’t waste any more time on it. ...

This spring Hayes redeemed himself, airing perhaps the best coverage on American television yet of the Green New Deal. All In devoted its entire 29 March broadcast to analyzing the congressional resolution, co-sponsored by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey, which outlines a plan to mobilize the United States to stave off climate disaster and, in the process, create millions of green jobs. In a shrewd answer to the ratings challenge, Hayes booked Ocasio-Cortez, the most charismatic US politician of the moment, for the entire hour. 

Yet at a time when civilization is accelerating toward disaster, climate silence continues to reign across the bulk of the US news media. Especially on television, where most Americans still get their news, the brutal demands of ratings and money work against adequate coverage of the biggest story of our time. Many newspapers, too, are failing the climate test. Last October, the scientists of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a landmark report, warning that humanity had a mere 12 years to radically slash greenhouse gas emissions or face a calamitous future in which hundreds of millions of people worldwide would go hungry or homeless or worse. Only 22 of the 50 biggest newspapers in the United States covered that report.

Instead of sleepwalking us toward disaster, the US news media need to remember their Paul Revere responsibilities – to awaken, inform and rouse the people to action. To that end, the Nation and CJR are launching Covering Climate Change: A New Playbook for a 1.5-Degree World, a project aimed at dramatically improving US media coverage of the climate crisis. When the IPCC scientists issued their 12-year warning, they said that limiting temperature rise to 1.5C would require radically transforming energy, agriculture, transportation, construction and other core sectors of the global economy. Our project is grounded in the conviction that the news sector must be transformed just as radically.

The project will launch on 30 April with a conference at the Columbia Journalism School – a working forum where journalists will gather to start charting a new course. We envision this event as the beginning of a conversation that America’s journalists and news organizations must have with one another, as well as with the public we are supposed to be serving, about how to cover this rapidly uncoiling emergency. Judging by the climate coverage to date, most of the US news media still don’t grasp the seriousness of this issue. ...

And given journalism’s deeply troubled business model, how can such coverage be paid for? Some preliminary suggestions. 

Don’t blame the audience, and listen to the kids. The onus is on news organizations to craft the story in ways that will demand the attention of readers and viewers. ... This is especially true of the younger people that news organizations covet as an audience. ...

Establish a diverse climate desk, but don’t silo climate coverage. The climate story is too important and multidimensional for a news outlet not to have a designated team covering it. That team must have members who reflect the economic, racial and gender diversity of America; if not, the coverage will miss crucial aspects of the story and fail to connect with important audiences. ...

Learn the science. Many journalists have long had a bias toward the conceptual. But you can’t do justice to the climate crisis if you don’t understand the scientific facts, in particular how insanely late the hour is. At this point, anyone suggesting a leisurely approach to slashing emissions is not taking the science seriously. ...

Don’t internalize the spin. Not only do most Americans care about climate change, but an overwhelming majority support a Green New Deal – 81% of registered voters said so as of last December, according to Yale climate pollsters. Trump and Fox don’t like the Green New Deal? Fine. But journalists should report that the rest of America does. ...

Lose the Beltway mindset. It’s not just the Green New Deal that is popular with the broader public. Many of the subsidiary policies – such as Medicare for All and free daycare – are now supported by upwards of 70% of the American public, according to Pew and Reuters polls. ...

Help the heartland. Some of the places being hit hardest by climate change, such as the midwestern states flooded this spring, have little access to real climate news; instead, the denial peddled by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh dominates. ...

Cover the solutions. ... But with the Green New Deal, the US government is now, for the first time, at least talking about a response that is commensurate with the scale and urgency of the problem. ...

Don’t be afraid to point fingers. As always, journalists should shun cheerleading, but neither should we be neutral. Defusing the climate crisis is in everyone’s interest, but some entities are resolutely opposed to doing what the science says is needed.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/22/why-is-the-us-news-m...

 Canadian Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, with Banque de France governor François Velleroy de Falhau and Frank Elderson, chair of the Network for Greening the Financial Services (NGFS)  have written an open letter warning

The catastrophic effects of climate change are already visible around the world. From blistering heatwaves in North America to typhoons in south-east Asia and droughts in Africa and Australia, no country or community is immune. These events damage infrastructure and private property, negatively affect health, decrease productivity and destroy wealth. And they are extremely costly: insured losses have risen five-fold in the past three decades. The enormous human and financial costs of climate change are having a devastating effect on our collective wellbeing.

The prime responsibility for climate policy will continue to sit with governments. ... But as financial policymakers and prudential supervisors, we cannot ignore the obvious risks before our eyes.

That is why 34 central banks and supervisors – representing five continents, half of global greenhouse gas emissions and the supervision of two-thirds of the global systemically important banks and insurers – joined forces in 2017 to create a coalition of the willing: the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). ...

We recognise that the challenges we face are unprecedented, urgent and analytically difficult. The stakes are undoubtedly high, but the commitment of all actors in the financial system to act on these recommendations will help avoid a climate-driven “Minsky moment” – the term we use to refer to a sudden collapse in asset prices.

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2019/april/open-letter-on-climate-r...

Two years after 'once in a century' spring flooding, the records are being broken again. Liberal PM Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs even admit the flooding is climate change induced and the costs are rising exponentially, which is exactly what climate change computer models predicted, only it is occurring even faster than those models estimated.

The federal government has deployed more than 1,700 soldiers to help with sandbagging and other relief efforts in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ottawa. Municipalities are calling for volunteers to also help if they can. ...

Ontario

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency because of flooding Thursday, with another 20 mm to 50 mm of rain forecast to fall Friday and Saturday. Water regulators estimate the Ottawa River’s level will rise nearly a metre within the next few days, well above its peak in a 2017 flood that was thought to have been a once-in-a-century event. ...

Quebec

Several regions in the province are affected by flooding, including Gatineau and other communities along the Ottawa River, parts of Montreal and the Beauce region south of Quebec City. Montreal declared a state of emergency, with Mayor Valerie Plante saying the situation in Quebec’s largest city was under control, but adding the heavy rain in the forecast could change conditions rapidly. She said the emergency declaration gives Montreal’s fire chief the authority to force evacuations and spend money without requiring city council’s approval. Officials in Rigaud, Que., about 70 km west of Montreal, ordered evacuations in all flood-affected areas Friday morning.

Quebec officials said 3,150 homes had already been flooded and 1,111 people forced to leave. Another 2,300 homes had been isolated by flooding. Twelve municipalities have declared states of emergency and 1,000 soldiers are on the ground helping. ...

New Brunswick

The Saint John River is flooding for the second year in a row. Officials now think the water will crest at about the same levels as last year but the weekend rainfall could change things. In New Brunswick, Goodale said, 140 roads have been flooded, 290 people are out of their homes and downtown Fredericton is closed. The Trans-Canada Highway between Oromocto and River Glade is closed and likely will remain so for several more days. The Red Cross has registered 900 evacuees from 330 households in New Brunswick. ...

Manitoba

The rising Red River in southern Manitoba has forced some road closures and a small number of evacuations near the community of St. Jean Baptiste. ...

The bills for flood relief and mitigation are already climbing. The federal disaster-assistance program covers 90 per cent of government costs for major events, and provincial programs can help municipalities pay some bills. In 2017, the Ottawa River flooding also racked up $223 million in private insurance coverage.

Goodale said the military is entitled to reimbursement, but in the last decade, it has never sent a bill for disaster help.

Goodale and Ford became the latest politicians Friday to warn that this type of flooding is becoming the norm thanks to climate change. “I think all levels of government are learning some expensive lessons from this flooding experience of the last number of years and the message from climate change is: Don’t think it is going away,” said Goodale. “It’s going to get progressively more and more difficult. It’s going to get worse rather than getting better.”

Ford also said having another 100-year flood just two years after the last one can be blamed on climate change. “Something is going on and we have to be conscious of it,” he said.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs both said this week it is time to start getting homeowners in these flood prone areas to move.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/04/26/premier-doug-ford-links-f...

Despite admitting climate change is causing major flooding in Ontario and saying he takes it seriously, Doug Ford is cutting a program to plant millions of trees that would help fight global warming because the trees would take some carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. 

Ontario has slashed the 50 Million Tree Program - the goal of this program, as noted on the Forests Ontario website, was to plant 50 million trees by 2025.

The latest casualty of Ford’s 2019 budget: $4.7 million in annual funding for Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Program. The goal of the program was to plant 50 million trees by 2025, which would improve soil quality, cut back on erosion, increase wildlife habitat and mitigate the effects of climate change across the province.

Rob Keen, the CEO of Forests Ontario, told CTV News that, “40 per cent forest cover is needed to ensure forest sustainability, and the average right now in southern Ontario is 26 per cent, with some areas as low as five per cent.” Keen also explained that part of the $4.7 million went to Forest Ontario’s planting partners, like conservation groups and First Nations who worked with landowners to get more trees planted.

According to Ed Patchell, the CEO of one of the nurseries that works with Forest Ontario, this budget cancellation will likely also lead to layoffs throughout all the organizations that partner with Forest Ontario. “It may be a way for the government to save some money, but it’s very short-sighted and it’s going to cost us a lot more in the future,” he said. 

https://www.flare.com/news/doug-ford-changes-for-ontario/

ETA: While Canadian governments dither or simply deny the extent of the global warming problem the Labour Party in the UK will force a vote this week that would declare a national environmental and climate change emergency, the first by a national government anywhere, although numerous cities here and elsewhere have done so. This was triggered by documents that reveal that the Conservative government has spent only a tiny fraction of a £100m fund allocated in 2015 to support clean air projects.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg meets Jeremy Corbyn on 23 April. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Jeremy Corbyn’s party will demand on Wednesday that the country wakes up to the threat and acts with urgency to avoid more than 1.5°C of warming, which will require global emissions to fall by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching “net zero” before 2050.

The move will place Conservative MPs under pressure to back the plan, or explain why they refuse to do so, now fears over the combined problems of air pollution and climate change have risen to the top of the political agenda.

On Saturday night Corbyn said the recent wave of protests were “a massive and necessary wake-up call” that demanded “rapid and dramatic action, which only concerted government action and a green industrial revolution can deliver.” He said that if parliament backed the move and became the first national legislature to declare a climate emergency it would “trigger a wave of action from governments around the world”.

The motion was welcomed by Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who has criticised the inaction of the world’s politicians. “It is a great first step because it sends a clear signal that we are in a crisis and that the ongoing climate and ecological crises must be our first priority,” she said. “We can not solve an emergency without treating it like an emergency. “I hope the other UK political parties join in and together pass this motion in parliament – and that political parties in other countries will follow their example.”

The motion will call for new targets on the mass rollout of renewable and low carbon energy and transport, proper funding of environmental protection, reversing species decline and developing plans to move towards a zero waste economy.

The plan comes as confidential minutes of a government advisory group obtained by the Observer show how all but a small proportion of a £100m pot allocated to Highways England to combat air pollution “on and near our roads” in 2015 has not been spent, despite a 2020 deadline. ...

Polly Billington, director of UK100, a network that campaigns for clean air, said on Saturday night: “This is scandalous. Ministers and quangos have sat on funding that should be used to clean up toxic fumes from our major roads and motorways 700 people in the UK die every week from diseases related to air pollution, 20 times the number of deaths in road accidents. No more dithering or delays – government must deliver this funding urgently to prevent more needless illness and deaths.” ...

This week, Pascal Lamy, the World Trade Organisation’s former director general, will add to the pressure on the government, warning a London audience that Brexit risks damaging the UK’s leadership on climate change. Lamy’s intervention accompanies new research from leading lawyers showing that existing preparations would not prevent damaging roll-backs on key climate change and environmental protections. It comes just days before the Committee on Climate Change publishes advice to the government on long-term climate change targets.

Lamy will say: “It is vital that any new trade deal or environment treaty between the UK and EU protects the region’s global leadership position on climate change. Without safeguardsto ensure strong continued cooperation and alignment, Brexit could destroy environmental protections – well beyond allowing chlorinated chicken imports.”

Writing in Sunday’s Observer shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey says: “Unless we take rapid action to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide we are releasing into the atmosphere, we face total catastrophe.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/27/corbyn-declares-nati...

Sean in Ottawa wrote:

One of the perhaps not so hidden costs is that any part of the world not devastated by climate change will be by migration waves they cannot hold back -- or violent right wing extremism as nativists get triggered by the migrations. In June 2018 diplomats from around the globe failed to reach agreement on how to deal with 

There is no perhaps about the growing number of climate change refugees. 

In December 2018, the Global Compact on Rufugees was adopted by most members of the UN General Assembly after years of negotiations.  It recognizes that ‘climate, environmental degradation and natural disasters increasingly interact with the drivers of refugee movements.’ (https://www.unhcr.org/climate-change-and-disasters.html)

In Kiribati, an island republic in the Central Pacific, large parts of the village Eita (above) have succumbed to flooding from the sea.

Since 2008, an average of 24 million people have been displaced by catastrophic weather disasters each year. As climate change worsens storms and droughts, climate scientists and migration experts expect that number to rise.

Meanwhile, climate impacts that unravel over time, like desert expansion and sea level rise, are also forcing people from their homes: A World Bank report in March projects that within three of the most vulnerable regions — sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America — 143 million people could be displaced by these impacts by 2050. 

In Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of people are routinely uprooted by coastal flooding, many making a treacherous journey to the slums of the capital, Dhaka. In West Africa, the almost total disappearance of Lake Chad because of desertification has empowered terrorists and forced more than four million people into camps.

It's a problem in the United States as well. An estimated 2,300 Puerto Rican familiesdisplaced by Hurricane Maria are still looking for permanent housing, while government officials have spent years working to preemptively relocate more than a dozen small coastal communities in Alaska and Louisiana that are disappearing into the rising sea.

A December study by Columbia University climate researchers in the peer-reviewed journal Science projected that if global temperatures continue their upward march, applications for asylum to the European Union could increase 28 percent to nearly 450,000 per year by 2100. ...

Climate refugees pose a number of unique challenges for international policymakers compared to those displaced by persecution, the traditional driver recognized by the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. While some people, like the Puerto Ricans displaced by Maria, are affected by a specific disaster, many others are forced to move because of slow-onset changes like sea level rise and desertification, which can make it hard to identify them as climate refugees. Researchers are still working to understand how climate change interacts with the panoply of other factors, including national security and local economic trends, that might prompt a family to move.

At the same time, the majority of today's climate refugees are displaced within the borders of their own country, whereas the new compacts focus exclusively on cross-border movement. And for Pacific island nations that face a truly existential threat from sea level rise, there's no legal precedent to guide how they might relocate to new territory in another country — if they even want to move. Even a comparatively simpler effort — to relocate a community of fewer than 100 people in Louisiana whose island home, Isle de Jean Charles, has lost 98 percent of its land to sea level rise since the 1950s, to a new town 40 miles inland — has taken several years and cost $50 million and still faces setbacks, including complaints from the predominantly Native American residents that the state government didn't adequately involve them in the planning process.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/20/621782275/the-refug...

Sean in Ottawa wrote:

For those not in Ontario, you may need to understand Ford's motivation. Ford is an extreme conservative and a liar. He will use any argument -- in the moment -- to justify reduction of government support -- on any item except support to business. Right now he is setting rhetoric up to leave the people who are losing their homes without any rebuilding help.

To bridge the two lies in the moment he is saying that there is such a thing as climate change but Ontario has already done enough,

Ford will oppose support to people in flood damaged regions based on climate change happening and oppose support to mitigate climate change based on Ontario having done enough. It will fit nicely with his attacks on workers wages, unions, health care, and education. Ford is on a 4-year mission to wreck Ontario as it was and turn it into an Alabama of the North where rich people play and everyone else can fuck off and die.

That is the present Ontario, so let's not think for a moment that Ford is a more moderate version of what exists in Alberta or wants to take power in October nationally. Same shit. Same flavour. Slightly different coloured label.

Considering what else I have written on this thread, it should be apparent that I was not giving Ford, or for that matter Trudeau or Higgs who I also mentioned above for saying much the same thing, any credit for being forced to admit that climate change was having a catastrophic impact on people's lives. Around the globe, there are very few politicians who are tackling this problem with anywhere near the urgency and resources that it deserves. Simply finally saying what is growing transparently obvious when catastrophe hits is not doing anything to solve the problem.

ETA: Friday May 3rd is Canada National School Strike for Climate Action Day. Here are some of the locations. In Montreal, 150,000 people turned out for the climate change student strike on March 15th. Support the students. 

“Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is on fire. ... I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.” — Greta Thunberg

CLIMATE STRIKE / FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE

SCHOOL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE ACTION
Canada National School Strikes
Friday May 3, 2019

• Toronto — Toronto Queens Park, May 3, 12:30 – 2:30pm | Fridays for Future TO | Toronto 350
• Ottawa — Parliament Hill, May 3, 11am - 3pm | Fridays for Future Ottawa | 350 Ottawa 
• Vancouver — Sustainabiliteens | May 3rd Strike
• Victoria — National Youth Strike4Climate: May 3rd Strike
• Edmonton — Climate Justice Edmonton | May 3rd Strike
• Calgary — see Climate Strike Canada map
• Saskatchewan — Regina / Saskatoon May 3rd see Climate Strike Canada map
• Winnipeg — May 3rd strike
• Guelph — Youth Climate Action | May 3rd
• Kitchener-Waterloo — KW Climate Save | May 3rd strike
• Montreal — held enormous strike on March 15 | Future events: FFF-Canada | La planète s'invite à l'Université | Crise climatique: sonnons l'alarme - Manifestation Montréal | Action Climat | Climate Reality
• Halifax — Climate Strike Halifax May 3rd Strike
• Many more locations across Canada: see Climate Strike Canada and FFF-Canada

Many more locations:
https://ClimateStrikeCanada.org | https://Fridaysforfuture.ca

https://www.goodwork.ca/action/school-strike-for-climate-change-action-c...

The Trudeau Liberals are significantly weakening the environmental regulations of Bill C-69 in a manner that is not gaining support from the Cons or industry on one side or the NDP, Greens or environmentalists on the other. 

Facing criticism from industry over its controversial overhaul of the environmental assessment process, the federal Liberal government released new details Wednesday about which projects will be subjected to greater scrutiny by Ottawa's regulators.

Ottawa is vowing to exempt certain non-mining projects that use steam to extract crude from deep under the earth — known as in-situ projects — as long as Alberta Premier Jason Kenney maintains a hard cap on emissions from his province's oil sector.

Kenney's predecessor, Rachel Notley, vowed to limit emissions from the sector to 100 megatonnes in any given year — a limit the sector currently is in no danger of exceeding.

The federal Liberal government previously cited that cap as a condition for approving the much-delayed Trans Mountain expansion project that will move product from Alberta to B.C.'s coast for export.

Speaking to reporters in Alberta Tuesday, Kenney called the oilsands emissions cap "an academic abstraction" and did not say for certain whether he would keep it in place.

Federal officials, speaking to reporters on background Wednesday about draft regulations to be implemented following the passage of Bill C-69, said in-situ projects would be left off the "project list" — a list of proposed developments that are to receive federal reviews by impact-assessment panels — as long as they are constructed in a jurisdiction with an emissions cap. ...

In an interview with CBC News, Tim McMillan, the president of CAPP, said the draft regulations bring him no comfort as he wanted to see in-situ projects left off the list entirely and not subjected to the condition that they'll be free from federal oversight only as long as Kenney keeps the cap. "Today's project list, I think, makes it worse not better. It clouds the whole process," he said. "We see regulations that reaffirm our fear that there will be politicization, which we absolutely do not want. I think there is some political brinksmanship at play here when it should be regulator excellence at play." ...

Stephen Hazell, director of policy at Nature Canada, said he was "flabbergasted" by the pipeline regulations and said his group will rethink its support for Bill C-69.

"I'm really shocked ... What they're doing with this list is promoting the fossil fuels industry at the expense of the renewables industry. They're decreasing thresholds on pipelines, on coal mines," he said. "At the same time, there will be federal assessments on wind energy projects that have more than 10 turbines. It's just astonishing." ...

Bill C-69, the government's environmental assessment overhaul, is currently before the Senate. It has faced intense criticism over how much authority it gives the environment minister to suspend an assessment or extend timelines.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-bill-c-69-regulations-1.5118233

 David Suzuki says it is time to stop fiddling while the planet burns in his article on the global warming crisis. 

Last October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a special report indicating that global emissions are still rising despite more than three decades of warnings. Now we're on a path to a 3C to 5C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels by 2100. The IPCC concludes that anything above a 1.5C rise will take us beyond our ability to "manage" the consequences, but that it's still possible to keep global average temperature increase at or below that.

The report's urgency, coupled with the possibility of remaining within a manageable temperature, should be the driving force behind all we do from here on. Yet some federal and provincial political leaders continue to downplay or deny the reality and severity of climate disruption, loudly opposing proven measures to address it. Canada is warming even faster than most of the world! Even those who agree it's a crisis are doing little about it. They are not leaders.

Swedish teen Greta Thunberg says political inaction is destroying her future. She refuses to listen to politicians' words and instead judges them by their actions. When I was her age, we would say, "Big talk, no action." Thunberg has listened to what scientists are telling us and is taking their predictions seriously. Every child on Earth has the right to say that no government is acting in their best interests. But kids can't vote, so ignoring them has no apparent political consequences, at least until they are old enough to vote or their voting-age parents rise up and demand action on their behalf.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna have young children who will surely be greatly affected by climate change, but they've done little to raise the IPCC's alarm or educate the public about the severity of climate disruption. It's all because of politics. They don't want to jeopardize their chances in the next election so they avoid antagonizing some segments of society. ...

As economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs recalls, ozone-depleting CFCs were not eliminated by raising taxes on them or encouraging the public to stop buying CFC-containing spray cans or refrigerators. They were legislated out.

We're in a battle for a liveable future and must make a declaration of war against catastrophic climate change. It's too late to remove the carbon we've already put into the atmosphere, so we'll have to live with the results for decades. But it makes no sense to continue to add to what is already at a devastating level higher than it's been for millions of years. ...

Many of my colleagues argue it's too late, that we're like the coyote, already over the edge, about to fall. Is that an argument for doing nothing? I don't think so, because we still don't really know whether we're the coyote or the roadrunner. And even if we fall, we might be able to avoid being crushed by the falling rock or anvil. Let's stop all the name-calling and denial, listen to the experts, seize the challenge and make the commitment to meet the IPCC target.

The economic, social and environmental consequences of whatever governments do or don't do now will be enormous, but we have to do all we can to keep from hitting bottom.

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/david-suzuki/2019/05/stop-fiddling-while...

In the UK, Jeremy Corbyn's motion to declare a national climate change emergency, the first such declaration, was approved without a vote.

Meanwhile most of Canadians politicians talk about building more pipelines and extracting more fossil fuels. 

MPs have approved a motion to declare an environment and climate emergency. This proposal, which demonstrates the will of the Commons on the issue but does not legally compel the government to act, was approved without a vote.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tabled the motion, said it was "a huge step forward".  Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged there was a climate "emergency" but did not back Labour's demands to declare one.

The declaration of an emergency was one of the key demands put to the government by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, in a series of protests over recent weeks. 

Addressing climate protesters from the top of a fire engine in Parliament Square earlier, Mr Corbyn said: "This can set off a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the globe. "We pledge to work as closely as possible with countries that are serious about ending the climate catastrophe and make clear to US President Donald Trump that he cannot ignore international agreements and action on the climate crisis." ...

Dozens of towns and cities across the UK have already declared "a climate emergency". 

There is no single definition of what that means but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030. Some councils have promised to introduce electric car hubs or build sustainable homes to try to achieve that goal.  It's a much more ambitious target than the UK government's, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050.

Labour's motion also calls on the government to aim to achieve net-zero emissions before 2050 and for ministers to outline urgent proposals to restore the UK's natural environment and deliver a "zero waste economy" within the next six months.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126677

In Regina, at least 500 students walked out of school on May 3, 2019, to protest climate change. The url includes a video of the student strike for climate action. 

https://globalnews.ca/video/5239188/students-walk-out-of-saskatchewan-sc...

Unions are a key part of this push for a Green New Deal as this article from the United Steel Workers shows, in noting that we need a transition process for workers. The coalition includes youth leaders, David Suzuki, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, Greenpeace, Indigenous Climate Action, 350.org Canada, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, Neil Young, K.D. Lang, William Shatner, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Naomi Klein, and Stephen Lewis, among others.

In a month where unprecedented floods have ravaged many Canadian communities, the immediate perils of climate change have never been more evident. At the same time, the news is full of reports underlining the economic anxiety felt by many Canadians. One recent poll showed that nearly half of us fear that we’re only $200 away from personal bankruptcy.

South of the border, some U.S. progressives have started floating the idea of a “Green New Deal” — a modern version of President Roosevelt’s historic effort to restore prosperity to America coming out of the Great Depression. Though the idea is still nascent, the core of the Green New Deal concept is to arrest the creeping catastrophe of climate change by decarbonizing the American economy through massive investments in green jobs and infrastructure.

For now, the Green New Deal discussion is in its early stages: an ambition designed to reconcile the often false dichotomy created between economic and environmental priorities. Much work remains to be done, both when it comes to policy specifics and building broad coalitions of political support. The same applies here in Canada.

While Canadians should seek to harness the momentum created by our progressively minded American counterparts, we must generate our own, “Made in Canada” approach. Canada, after all, never had a New Deal. More importantly, our economy and history are distinct and the challenges we face — both in fighting climate change and winning a just transition for workers — are unique. 

Designing our own solutions also gives us the opportunity to learn from any missteps south of the border. The lukewarm response from much of the American labour movement to the Green New Deal resolution currently before the U.S. House of Representatives illustrates why co-operation between unions and environmental activists is essential in the work ahead. Labour will be absolutely critical to the success of any effort in Canada.

Our urgently needed transition to a low carbon future won’t be achieved without the support of Canadian workers. That support can and should be won through a plan that guarantees them a just, fair and prosperous future. We can build a formidable coalition to fight climate change by bringing together unlikely allies to reconcile environmental necessities with economic priorities. ...

In an age of where affordability concerns are rampant, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that carbon taxes have become a popular target for those resisting climate action. Clearly, an alternative route is needed. And, however we ultimately decide to label it, a Canadian Green New Deal could offer us an exit from this cul-de-sac by putting the concerns of labour and environmental groups to work in a mutually reinforcing way. ...

in an age of where affordability concerns are rampant, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that carbon taxes have become a popular target for those resisting climate action.

Clearly, an alternative route is needed. And, however we ultimately decide to label it, a Canadian Green New Deal could offer us an exit from this cul-de-sac by putting the concerns of labour and environmental groups to work in a mutually reinforcing way. ...

Once a novel idea, co-operation between union and environmental activists has increasingly entered the mainstream. In the emerging and urgently needed climate discussion, those bonds can become frayed once again or they can be strengthened for a new century.

To win climate progress in Canada and safeguard the future of our planet, let’s make sure it’s the latter.

https://www.usw.ca/news/media-centre/articles/2019/labour-a-key-partner-...

Today, with over 60 organizations involved, unions and associations Canadian Green New Deal has laid out the detail of its plan:

Today (May 6), a long list of Canadian organizations and individuals together unveiled a proposal to reduce emissions in the country by 50 percent by 2030.

“The climate crisis is here,” begins a statement at GreenNewDealCanada.ca. “Arctic permafrost is melting, forests, towns, and Indigenous territories are burning. States of emergency—declared for once-in-a-century floods—are becoming commonplace, and millions around the world already face dislocation and starvation. But that’s not the only thing keeping us up at night,” it continues. “Many of us are struggling to find an affordable place to live, or a decent job to support our families. Hate crimes and racism are on the rise. And promise to Indigenous peoples have yet to be implemented. We need an ambitious plan to deal with multiple crises at the same time.”

The details of the plan remain a work in progress.

The coalition’s website states that step one is to “unite a diverse movement,” and then that step two is to “develop a shared vision”. Step three will be to “push political leaders to act”.

The new deal’s website asks anyone who represents an organization that might want to get involved to contact organizers. ...

At a press conference in Vancouver today, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said that his support for the plan is rooted in the future. "We owe it to our grand children,” he explained. As Indigenous people, our market place is the land and it's disappearing rapidly," he said. "The window is closing at an alarming rate and we need true, genuine leadership." ...

Nayeli Jimenez, an organizer for Our Time 2019 who’s based in Vancouver, also spoke there. She argued that the Green New Deal is different from plans to combat climate change that have come before it. “It’s not just an environmental issue,” Jimenez explained. “It’s not just a political issue. It actually kind of brings everything into one narrative. So to me, this is the first time that’s seen the relationship and the intersection of all these issues.”

https://www.straight.com/news/1237156/canadas-green-new-deal-calls-plan-...

Two one-in-a hundred-year floods in three years and last fall's extremely destructive tornadoes in Ottawa are prompting the city to look at climate change mitigation and the increased financial and social costs associated with global warming. Other cities across the country are going to face similar challenges and costs. One thing is clear: it won't come cheap. 

2019 Climate Change Induced Flooding Does Not Stop Because There Is A Border 

Flooding in the Ottawa and Gatineau area

"It's really tough on the people, and it's tough on the infrastructure and we have to build to a tougher, more resilient stand," Mayor Jim Watson also said in Fitzroy Harbour. The city has plans related to climate change and renewable energy. It has declared a climate emergency. But what does that mean in practice? ...

The city's planning starts with getting the right information. The City of Ottawa, working with the National Capital Commission, has a consultant coming up with climate projections specific to the Ottawa area. It already has a sense of what to expect: more very hot days, violent storms, and precipitation. Staff foresee built-up areas holding their heat and struggling with what's called the "urban heat island" effect, freeze-thaw cycles continuing to pock roads with potholes, and big sudden storms knocking out power and washing water across paved areas.  City council has also told staff to speed up a study into how Ottawa is vulnerable to climate change, and come up with a list of gaps to fill. ...

Stephen Willis, the city's general manager responsible for infrastructure and planning, says, in relation to flooding, he knows the city will need to zero in on stormwater ponds, pipes and culverts and build them so they can carry away more rain in a big storm. The easiest, most cost-effective fix, he said, is usually to bolster the infrastructure — the city has $20 billion in water infrastructure alone — when it's due to be upgraded anyway. Making sure the city's critical drinking and wastewater plants can operate as islands unto themselves is also a priority, Willis said. "Our water supply is one of those is one of the most critical backbones of our infrastructure system so it needs to be able to operate no matter what conditions are going on," he said. The city is beefing up backup power to those plants so they last longer in a power outage. The recent flooding also taught the city it will have to take another look at the road to the Britannia water filtration plant, he said. ...

As for flood mitigation efforts, Willis said the city was pleased with how the berm in Britannia held during the peak flooding this month, but such a barrier doesn't make sense in Constance Bay, where groundwater seeped up through sandy soil. ...

For major storms, roads and parks in newer areas are designed to collect some water on their surfaces so the city's system isn't overwhelmed, Willis said. New condos are obligated to catch rain water on site and release it slowly. Homeowners can do the same in their yards by using rain barrels or permeable driveways to soak up more rain in the ground.  ...

The city is working on a new blueprint for how Ottawa will grow — a chance to nudge builders to curb heat by using green or light-coloured roofs or reflective pavement, for instance. Staff, too, will look at Ottawa's hot spots, who's vulnerable, and how big towers going up around light rail stations could add to that "urban heat island." Adding more urban forests to cool the city is also a priority for the city, Willis said. ...

Spending choices will need to be made by city council come budget time, but federal and provincial governments are better placed to dangle financial incentives to push the envelope, Willis said. "We as a municipality might wish to be very ambitious on this, but there are limits on what our powers will allow us to do," Willis said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/climate-change-adaptation-city-ott...

The Fijian Prime Minister Bainimarama criticized Australia' PM Alexander for suggesting the solution to climate-change induced sea level rise was to have people move to higher ground. Three Fijian communities have already had to move and forty more are waiting in line to do so. Some other island nations, such as the Maldives, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands,  don't even have higher ground to move to.  He also suggested they might get Australian citizenship in exchange for giving their fishing rights to Australia.  

Australia is the world's fourth largest coal produceer, the highest carbon producing fossil fuel. Sounds like he would fit right in to Kenney's and Scheer's Conservatives. 

Meanwhile, New Zealand is moving in the exact opposite direction, as is discussed at the end of the following article. 

Fiji's existence threatened by 'frightening new era' of deadly climate change | The Independent

Fiji’s prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, has slapped down the Liberal MP John Alexander for suggesting Australia should prioritise helping people in the Pacific move to higher ground to avoid sea-level rise over reducing its use of coal.

In a speech at the Australasian Emissions Reduction Summit at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Bainimarama said Fiji was already feeling effects of climate change and had moved three communities to safer territory, while a further 40 were in a queue awaiting relocation.

Bainimarama also criticised a suggestion by the former prime minister Kevin Rudd that Australia should offer citizenship to Pacific islanders in exchange for control of their fisheries.

“In a time where we must be future-facing, we can hardly tolerate such insensitive, neocolonial prescriptions,” he said. “I implore leaders of Australia to visit these communities and see them first-hand before they propose solutions that are so blatantly out of touch with the reality we Pacific islanders live with on the ground, day in and day out.”

Speaking at a forum last week, Alexander reportedly noted Bainimarama’s repeated call for Australia to stop burning coal and developing new coalmines but said the priority should be to help people to move their settlements to higher ground. According to Nine newspapers, he said: “It’s very much like your house is on fire, your children are in the house – should you call the fire brigade and get the children out of the house?” ...

Bainimarama said the decision to relocate a community may seem easy but for those affected there was deep emotional loss. ...

“They have no choice – it is a matter of survival. But despite the enormous difficulty of these decisions, Fiji is lucky we even have the higher ground to allow for relocation at all. I’m keen to hear what [Alexander] believes the people of Kiribati should do in the face of rising seas, where the highest point in their country sits at just 1.8 metres above sea level.”

He said relocation was “enormously complex”, requiring space, resources and new livelihoods. “That is why Fiji has developed the world’s first relocation guidelines and is in the process of establishing a relocation trust fund dedicated to this purpose,” he said. ...

The speech came as the New Zealand government introduced legislationdesigned to cut all greenhouse gases except biogenic methane from sheep and cattle to zero by 2050. Its target for biogenic methane is a cut of between 24% and 47% below 2017 levels. Pacific leaders will meet the United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, in Fiji next Wednesday to discuss climate change before a UN climate action summit in September.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/08/fiji-pm-frank-bainim...

kropotkin1951 wrote:

I was very interested in this Global organization of Mayor's. The solutions are local not national in a diverse geography like Canada's. I was proud of Vancouver to read that it had the lowest per capita carbon footprint in North America. 

I agree that local initiatives are important in dealing with climate change. However, coordination across provincial, state, regional, national and international governments and organizations is also needed to deal with the global warming problem. However, I also agree that Vancouver is one of the leaders, now under Mayor Kennedy Stewart, in this area as the following article notes. 

This morning, Vancouver city council will deal with two major staff reports focusing on greenhouse gas emissions. The first includes recommendations on the city's response to a "climate emergency", which was declared in January by council. Yesterday, I wrote about one aspect: the shortage of electric vehicle recharging stations in Vancouver.

Straight.com has also posted a commentary by the executive director of Renewable Cities, Alex Boston. He reviewed Vancouver's role as a trailblazer on climate issues since 1990 and focused on the new report's integration of climate action with affordability.

And Vancouver resident Paul Ratchford raised concerns on this site about appendix H in the report. It calls for ensuring a majority of black, Indigenous, and people of colour at publicly funded workshops that incorporate an intersectional lens into climate actions.

While this may seem like heavy coverage, it only addresses certain aspects. It's hard to underestimate the impact that this report could have on the city and possibly other countries in the years to come.

Local governments can change the world. That's been seen in everything from antismoking efforts to cannabis regulation to the peace movement to the trend across the globe to viewing drug addiction as a health issue.

In all four of these areas, Vancouver was a leading player in North America, just as it has been in responding to climate change.

Local actions can persuade senior governments to follow because municipalities are often hothouses for innovation. And this has also been the case with climate change.

Witness the role that municipal governments, including Vancouver, had in strengthening the backbone of world leadersto set hard limits in the Paris Agreement of 2015.  ...

The city report recommends six "Big Moves", which will be voted on by council. Below, I've listed them, as well as their implications for city residents.

* Staff are recommending that 90 percent of people will eventually live within an easy walk or roll of their daily needs. That implies much more densification in South Vancouver, where this is mostly not the case—apart from in Marpole, Oakridge, Dunbar, Kerrisdale, and South Hill.

* By 2030, two-thirds of trips will be by walking, cycling, rollerblading, and transit. This implies that more road space for motor vehicles will be taken away to accommodate nonmotorists. This process has already begun on the Granville Bridge.

* Council will set a target of 50 percent of kilometres driven in 2030 will be made in zero-emission vehicles. This implies a sharp increase in electric-vehicle charging stations and far more extensive efforts to make these available to tenants, who comprise 53 percent of the city's population.

* Council will ensure that all new replacement heating and hot water systems will deliver zero emissions. This implies a sharp expansion of neighbourhood energy utilities and the use of heat pumps. There's not a lot of talk in the report about geothermal and solar energy, but city staff's goals could eventually lead to a clash with B.C. Hydro over the extent of distributed power generation in Vancouver. That's because building owners may increasingly want to generate their own renewable power to achieve the city's objectives, but B.C. Hydro won't want to lose revenue sources.

* Council will set a target of reducing embedded emissions in new buildings and construction projects to 40 percent of the 2018 level by 2030. That would inevitably lead to far more wood construction and far less use of cement, as well as fewer underground parkades.

* Council would pass policies leading to the removal of one million tonnes of carbon annually by 2060 through regeneration of local forests and coastal ecosystems.

https://www.straight.com/news/1232101/proposed-big-moves-climate-could-t...

Ireland has become the second country, after the UK, to declare a climate emergency thanks to a cross-party consensus, something unimaginable in Canada, thanks to the Conservatives. 

It follows protests in the UK and around the world by the Extinction Rebellion group ( AFP/Getty )

The Republic of Ireland has become the second country in the world to declare a climate emergency. The country's climate action minister, Richard Bruton, warned climate change was the greatest threat facing humanity and the level of urgency was justified. 

"We're reaching a tipping point in respect of climate deterioration," he said. "Things will deteriorate very rapidly unless we move very swiftly and the window of opportunity to do that is fast closing."

A amendment brought by the Fianna Fáil party calling on the parliament “to examine how [the Irish government] can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss” was accepted without a vote on Thursday.

It followed the release of a parliamentary report presenting a "cross-party consensus for action" on climate change. ...

The Irish Green party leader, Eamon Ryan, who moved the amendment, described the landmark decision as “historic”.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-climate-emergenc...

Montreal is also taking measures to reduce its carbon footprints under Mayor Valerie Plante. She also called on independent pension funds to stop investing in fossil fuels. 

Montreal building owners will have a little more than a decade to rid themselves of their oil furnaces as the city moves to ban the use of heating oil from its territory by 2030. It's the latest initiative announced by Montreal's municipal government as it works to reduce its carbon footprint and meet a long-term aim to be carbon neutral by 2050.

"A collective effort is absolutely necessary, we are going to encourage all Montrealers to make the transition to a heating system other than heating oil," Mayor Valérie Plante said. Owners of existing commercial, industrial, institutional and residential buildings with oil-burning furnaces will have until 2030 to convert to a renewable energy source.

The city is leading by example: Plante said Monday the city is investing $4 million to convert its remaining oil-heated municipal buildings by 2021. ...

Those homes account for 28 per cent of residential carbon emissions. Oil heating also accounts for about 14 per cent of emissions from commercial and institutional sources. ...

Mayrand said electrifying private homes now is their preferred option as the city will ultimately move to get rid of fossil fuels, like natural gas, by 2050. ...

Montreal's announcement is just the latest in a series of anti-pollution announcements that includes a plan to ban single-use items such as plastics and polystyrene foam containers. The city's bylaw on wood-burning stoves came into effect last Oct. 1, banning fireplaces and wood stoves that don't meet strict emissions standards and forbidding their use altogether during smog alerts. ...

On Tuesday, Plante also called on the managers of independently-run pension plans for the city's retirees to progressively stop investing in fossil fuels. "The role of cities is crucial in the fight against climate change," she said in a tweet. "Our environmental commitments must translate into our investments."

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/05/09/news/montreal-moves-reduce-c...