climate change

If you’re paying attention to efforts to tackle climate change through emissions trading, or “Cap and Trade”, systems, then there have been a number of recent developments worthy of note.

Another lesson from the Gulf oil spill for Canada – think twice about subsidizing industries that deal in dangerous substances by limiting their liability for catastrophic accidents. Let me explain.

There is nothing but bleak news in the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico currently destroying livelihoods and the environment in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and possibly beyond.  There are reports circulating that that spill could quickly become much worse – and we must hope that these scenarios do not materialize and that the well is quickly capped.  Our thoughts are with ecosystems, as well as with the communities and livelihoods, that are being devastated.&n

In March we mused about the potential for climate scientists to sue climate deniers for defamation. 

Last week, BC’s Minister of Forests and Range, Pat Bell, announced the introduction of a new Zero Net Deforestation Act.  Minister Bell explained:

British Columbia is committed to achieving zero net deforestation by 2015 to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Forests absorb and store carbon, which make them important allies in the fight against climate change.

In recent months there has been a sharp drop in public faith in climate science.  The collapse is not, as is sometimes suggested, in the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is occurring.  As West Coast has previously pointed out, despite embarrassing errors and some arguably unprofessional e-mails, the science itself is as clear now as it has ever been: human caused global warming is occurring.  The damage caused by the e-mails and errors is a sharp decline in t

Only weeks before the Copenhagen conference on climate change, climate skeptics gleefully released over a thousand e-mails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) in East Anglia, claiming that these e-mails (which they branded climate gate) discredited not only the work of the scientists at the CRU, but climate science generally.  Since then climate science has taken one public hit after another, from revelations of

Last week I read this announcement of the launch of Transition Canada – a national network to facilitate transition towns in Canada.  I haven’t been able to find much further information about this new organization, but there have been discussions about creating it over the past month or two at least.