How many of us think of the Venetian lagoon and its imperilled circumstances when we imagine a trip to Piazza San Marco?
Venice has been a feast of art, archaeology and escape for tourists since it began to attract them in the 15th and 16th centuries. But it is under attack. One of the world’s first cities to be founded almost exclusively on the conduct of financial transactions, its promotion of mercantile capitalism led the way to…
The Greens offer the most comprehensive plan. But it, like all the other platforms, is significantly shortly on details about costs
During this federal election campaign, my youngest grandchild turned three months old and I had my 79th birthday. What can I hope for our futures? I cast my first vote for John Diefenbaker’s Progressive Conservatives before most of today’s voters were born and steadily migrated through the ideological spectrum. I worked in Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal…
Living with your environmental choices and the ones others make for you while on the road
We must reckon with the environmental impacts of our personal travel decisions in this time of climate crisis. For us, it was our current trip – to hike in northern Italy with friends, just after my wife’s retirement and, coincidentally, climate activist Greta Thunberg’s trip to New York from Sweden on a sailboat – that…
Where’s the evidence that the values this new world order has created produce happiness, fulfilment and the well-lived life?
A great article by Andrew Marantz in a recent issue of the New Yorker called Silicon Valley’s Crisis of Conscience details the struggle of American big tech to find its soul. The central theme is the growing awareness of big tech CEOs and senior executives that their endeavours are causing massive societal psychological harm. None…
David Yager, author of From Miracle to Menace: Alberta, A Carbon Story, talks about bringing the climate policy conversation back to reality
David Yager is an energy policy analyst, oil and gas writer and author of From Miracle to Menace: Alberta, A Carbon Story. Why did you write your book? Yager: As the climate change issue grew, it was accompanied by more advice that Alberta move from a sunset industry – fossil fuels – to renewables. B.C.…
The climate crisis is important to many Canadians, and leaders like Ocasio-Cortez and Thunberg have empowered and inspired youthful voters
The Dalai Lama recently tweeted, “I am encouraged to see young people trying to bring about positive change. Confident because their efforts are based on truth and reason – therefore they will succeed.” As one who works with young people, I find these words so encouraging, and I look around me and see that they’re…
We are at the dawn of a dramatic change in agricultural that’s drawing acute attention to the true cost of bringing food to our plates
Bean-less coffee could hit the market as early as next year. Our summer was marked by key announcements from major food chains that have decided to switch to plant-based alternatives. Meat – particularly beef – was the target of companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, who claimed their plant-based products were more ecologically sound.…
There are formidable technical and economic obstacles to replacing fossil fuels with other forms of energy
With the federal election fast approaching, we can expect to hear a lot about climate change, energy policy and how government can spur the development of a ‘low-carbon’ economy. These themes are central to the platforms of a number of the political parties contesting the election. The discussion of these topics takes place against the…
All four strands of conservatism in Canada – traditionalist, religious, free-market and populist – should logically support a tax
Conservative politicians across Canada have strongly opposed the federal government’s promise to impose a carbon tax since the idea was floated in 2015. It’s easy to see how conservatives would oppose a new tax created by the federal Liberal government. After all, what’s more conservative than opposing a new federal tax? Dig deeper into conservative…
We need real leadership now to calm climate change. Will that come from government, citizens, non-government groups, business or a combination of all four?
Monthly heat records are becoming routine (July was the hottest month on record), and people are finally waking up to the reality that climate change is occurring at a much faster pace than most thought. Yes, denial continues in some quarters, but they’re increasingly seen as crudely self- serving, science-illiterate and therefore indefensible. Recent polling…