Last week, I noted three ways proposed by Prof. Graham Smith to reform our democracy to safeguard the future, and dealt with two of them: re-shaping legislatures and constitutions and bringing an independent voice to decision-making.
Courtesy of the Times Colonist Photo: Housing should be moderately intensified, writes Trevor Hancock, not through high-rises but by sensitive in-filling to create moderate-priced housing in walkable neighbourhoods, as with a gentle densification housing project... Read more
Focus Magazine wants people to let them know about any controversial developments in Greater Victoria. “Are you concerned about a particular development in Greater Victoria? Keep Focus posted and we’ll add it to our coverage. Email focusedit@shaw.ca or use... Read more
Fairway Neighbours Unite for a Livable Langford While Langford appears to be following the letter of the law, they are certainly NOT following Best Practices for keeping their citizens informed: – Releasing plans and architectural drawings on the Friday... Read more
The Township of Esquimalt is taking steps to ensure that new residential builds are electric vehicle-ready. Last week, staff introduced a bylaw amendment to include requirements for parking stalls in new residential construction to have a minimum number of energized... Read more
Attaining carbon neutrality will have a profound impact on how we design communities and deal with waste. This webinar includes a number of pioneers who are creating innovative solutions to carbon neutrality and ways to…
The following are a sampling of climate action-related updates, activities or reports from an active Fall 2020, both internationally and closer-to-home: Internationally: On December 2, 2020, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented a sobering State of the... Read more
Since our community meeting with Creatively United for the Planet and other community groups concerned with the CRD’s proposed massive landfill expansion plan at Hartland Landfill (and announced agreement in principle with FortisBC which financially motivates CRD to... Read more
The primary American research body tracking Global Warming and its affects, NOAA, just noted that September was the warmest September since modern records began in 1880. Seven of the warmest Septembers since 1880 have occurred in the past 7 years. So far, 2020 is the... Read more
This video demonstrates how a small group of individuals can can make an impact to tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis by restoring ecosystem function in creeks within communities. The individuals are associated with Aqua-tex Scientific Consulting Ltd., This... Read more
This special TEDx event, co-produced by Creatively United in partnership with BC Drawdown, features an incredible line up of inspirational solutions and talks by a variety of BC climate champions, including: Seth Klein, Meg…
Many people who are concerned about the oncoming climate crisis and loss of biodiversity ask the following questions: “What can one person do? What can one community do?” These questions and others are addressed in this…
In 2019 Esquimalt council committed to a 30% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. To help meet this challenge, Esquimalt plans to eliminate all waste going to the Hartland Landfill by gasifying 91% of its waste stream which is not... Read more
“We are facing a disaster of unspoken suffering for enormous amounts of people, so please, treat the climate crisis like the acute crisis it is, and give us a future.” – Greta Thunberg For years, Guy Dauncey has tirelessly warned of the urgency of tackling the climate... Read more
Esquimalt Council has declared a climate emergency with a target of 30% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. These targets will require a transformation in the way the Township manages its waste. Accordingly the Council is exploring the... Read more
In May, The World Health Organization released its “Manifesto for a healthy and green COVID-19 recovery.” It is in many ways an astonishing document, because it speaks briefly and plainly to the many global problems we face and how we need to respond.
This poorly researched film suggested that reliance on solar & renewable energy is impossible. This is nonsense. When I lived in the North Island of New Zealand 47 years ago it already was almost 100% reliant on renewable energy. I quit watching the film after 30 minutes.
The third-largest component of our ecological footprint consists of buildings, and almost two-thirds of that is the operating energy used for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, cooking and powering electronics. Most of the rest is the embodied energy in the materials used to construct the buildings.
If you’re like me, you might look at this book and wonder how dry and boring it might be. This book is a wonderful surprise in that regard; once I started I could not put it down. This story contains so much information and is rounded out in such a way that you will soon find something that will pique your interest and take you down the rabbit hole.
BC Housing and its partners are currently accepting expressions of interest for the LEEP Field Trial Homes and would like to invite you to participate! If you are planning the design and construction of a high-performance home or building, your project may be eligible... Read more
An important contributor to our large ecological footprint is urban sprawl, an energy and resource-hungry form of development that we cannot afford. It also is bad for our health.
Considerable derision has been heaped on Victoria city council for endorsing a class-action lawsuit against the fossil-fuel industry, seeking financial compensation for the added costs the city will incur as a result of climate change.
Everyone wondered how we could possibly feature more than 20 presentations in less than two hours, but we did it! Inspiring stories of innovation, collaboration, community and creativity were shared with both a live and livestream audience worldwide around the theme... Read more
The environment of our buildings, and especially our homes, is enormously important for us. As Sir Winston Churchill remarked: “First we shape our buildings, then they shape us.”
We often do not realize the effects we are having on our natural surroundings. Last fall, Tri-City Greendrinks featured lighting specialist and long-time member of the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), Brian Bury, to enlighten us about one of the least talked... Read more
Canada’s postal worker union is at the bargaining table this year – with one major issue to negotiate. It’s not what you think: the only green they’re fighting for is the environment.
In Episode 5 of our podcast Mission Transition we look at who owns our power – and who should own our power. Caitlyn and Sue hear from people in BC who are trying to bring energy ownership and production into their own hands.
First Nations have been left behind by our mainstream economy. Now they are leading the way in BC when it comes to local, clean energy generation. In this episode we look at the innovative ways they’re producing clean energy and how this could spark an opportunity to work toward reconciliation.
British Columbians tend to see our economy as resource based—with many people making their living in the forest industry, the oil patch or the gas fields. We’ve all heard about or benefited from the high paying jobs. In Episode 3 we challenge assumptions about energy jobs in BC and talk about what happens to jobs as we shift to the next economy.
In Episode 2 of Mission Transition, we look at how the clean energy economy will change the ways we build. Susan Elrington and Caitlyn Vernon examine whether it’s better to build new or to retrofit existing buildings—and what this means for jobs.
