Stephen Leahy

Standing up for wild salmon: Protest closes Clayoquot Sound fish farm

rabble staff — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 16:17:52 +0000

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

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A new salmon farm in Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island was dismantled and hauled away last week after being occupied by members of Ahousaht First Nation and local supporters from Tofino.

'Our future generations are not for sale': Marilyn Baptiste wins Goldman Environmental Prize

rabble staff — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 13:38:41 +0000

Monday, April 27, 2015

Marilyn Baptiste of the Xeni Gwet'in First Nation in British Columbia has won the prestigious $175,000 Goldman Prize for her five-year effort to prevent construction of the Prosperity gold and copper mine 600 kilometres north of Vancouver.

"I hope the Goldman award will bring world recognition to help us protect our land," Baptiste told DeSmog Canada. "We'd like to improve our lives, but our land and water comes first."

That simple statement echoes the words of millions of Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world facing governments and industries intent on extracting minerals, oil, coal, gas and timber from their lands.

Marilyn Baptiste of the Xeni Gwet'in First Nation in British Columbia has won the prestigious $175,000 Goldman Prize for her five-year effort to prevent construction of the Prosperity mine.

Renewable energy is key to a low-carbon future, say climate leaders

rabble staff — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 12:17:23 +0000

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Vancouver city council's unanimous decision to commit to running on 100 per cent renewable energy is the kind of political leadership the world desperately needs says Jørgen Randers, professor of climate strategy at the Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway.

"Despite the looming catastrophe of climate change the market will choose to do nothing," Randers said in the keynote speech at the ICLEI World Congress 2015, the triennial sustainability summit of local governments in Seoul, South Korea.

Strong legislation, intelligent policy and collective action are the only ways to take effective climate action and keep humanity from a nightmare future.

Can cities save the planet with climate action?

rabble staff — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:20:48 +0000

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Cities are responsible for 70 per cent of global CO2 emissions but they can save the planet by greening one community at a time said Vancouver's David Cadman at the close of the ICLEI World Congress 2015, the triennial sustainability summit of local governments in Seoul, South Korea.

"We can do it. We must do it," Cadman, the retiring president of Local Governments for Sustainability, told some 1,500 delegates from nearly 1,000 cities and local governments in 96 countries on April 11.

The majority of climate actions and most plans to reduce CO2 emissions are happening at the city level, Cadman told DeSmog Canada in Seoul.

Cities are responsible for 70 per cent of global CO2 emissions but they can save the planet by greening one community at a time, said Vancouver's David Cadman at the ICLEI World Congress 2015.

Reducing pollution to improve health should be a policy priority

rabble staff — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 14:07:06 +0000

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

UXBRIDGE (IPS) -- Pollution is likely to be the most pressing global health issue in the coming years without effective prevention and clean-up efforts, experts say.

Air, water and soil pollution already kills nearly nine million people a year and cripples the health of more than 200 million people worldwide. Far more people die from pollution than from malaria and HIV/AIDS combined.

Development and rising pollution levels remain closely linked, as clearly evidenced in China and India. However, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a major opportunity to curb pollution and turn economies around the world towards clean and green development pathways.

Pollution is likely to be the most pressing global health issue in the coming years without effective prevention and clean-up efforts, experts say.

The pressure is on: Will COP 20 produce a new climate agreement?

rabble staff — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 14:27:05 +0000

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

UXBRIDGE, Canada (IPS) - This December, 195 nations plus the European Union will meet in Lima for two weeks for the crucial UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change, known as COP 20. The hope in Lima is to produce the first complete draft of a new global climate agreement.

However, this is like writing a book with 195 authors. After five years of negotiations, there is only an outline of the agreement and a couple of "chapters" in rough draft.

The deadline is looming: the new climate agreement to keep climate change to less than two degrees Celsius is to be signed in Paris in December 2015.

This December, 195 nations plus the European Union will meet in Lima for two weeks for the crucial UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change, known as COP 20.

Working together U.S. and China can reduce carbon emissions

rabble staff — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 13:43:36 +0000

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Editor's note: This column was first published on IPS prior to the U.S.-China climate agreement being announced. In this piece, the author reports the outcome of an energy efficiency analysis for the two countries and outlines opportunities for developing integrated efficiency policies.

BONN (IPS) - China and the United States are responsible for 35 per cent of global carbon emissions but could do their part to keep climate change to less than two degrees Celsius by adopting best energy efficiency standards, a new analysis shows.

China and the U.S. are responsible for 35 per cent of global carbon emissions but could do their part to keep climate change to less than two degrees by adopting best energy efficiency standards.

A dirty war: How the fossil fuel industry blocks climate action

rabble staff — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 13:55:36 +0000

Friday, November 7, 2014

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Nov 3 2014 (IPS) - "Greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are higher than ever, and we're seeing more and more extreme weather and climate events….We can't prevent a large-scale disaster if we don't heed this kind of hard science."

Question: Is that statement about the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report from Greenpeace or the U.S. State Department?

Answer: It's by John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State, the second most powerful official in the Barack Obama administration.

Countless climate studies end up concluding that what's missing in a shift to low-carbon living is political will. Left unsaid is the incredibly powerful and influential fossil fuel industry.

It's not too late to take climate action. Here's how.

rabble staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 16:30:05 +0000

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Meeting a target of keeping global temperature from rising above 2 degrees Celsius is still possible, according to 30 leading climate and energy experts.

The authors, who include former U.K. government scientific adviser Sir Bob Watson, conclude that staying under 2 C needs "immediate, urgent action" at the highest levels of governments. The Tackling the Challenge of Climate Change report was presented at Ban Ki-moon's UN climate summit in New York.

Meeting a target of keeping global temperature from rising above 2 degrees Celsius is still possible, according to 30 leading climate and energy experts.

Fracking is proceeding without research into its effects, says study

rabble staff — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:58:18 +0000

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

A decade into North America's fracking boom, the impact on wildlife and the environment remains largely unknown, according to a new study.

"We're conducting a giant experiment without even collecting the important data on the water, air, land or wildlife impacts," said Sara Souther, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, one of the co-authors of the peer-reviewed research examining the environmental impacts of shale gas development in the U.S. and Canada.

A decade into North America's fracking boom, the impact on wildlife and the environment remains largely unknown, according to a new study.

Canada is now the world's leading 'deforestation nation'

rabble staff — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 13:05:40 +0000

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

UXBRIDGE, Canada (IPS) - The world's last remaining forest wilderness is rapidly being lost -- and much of this is taking place in Canada, not in Brazil or Indonesia where deforestation has so far made the headlines.

A new satellite study reveals that since 2000 more than 104 million hectares of forests -- an area three times the size of Germany -- have been destroyed or degraded.

"Every four seconds, an area of the size of a football (soccer) field is lost," said Christoph Thies of Greenpeace International.

The extent of this forest loss, which is clearly visible in satellite images taken in 2000 and 2013, is "absolutely appalling" and has a global impact, Thies told IPS, because forests play a crucial in regulating the climate.

The world's last remaining forest wilderness is rapidly being lost -- and much of this is taking place in Canada, not in Brazil or Indonesia where deforestation has so far made the headlines.

We will max out our carbon budget by 2018. What can we do?

rabble staff — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 16:56:33 +0000

Monday, September 15, 2014

Here's the frightening implication of a landmark study on carbon emissions: By 2018, no new cars, homes, schools, factories, or electrical power plants should be built anywhere in the world, ever again, unless they're either replacements for old ones or carbon neutral. Otherwise greenhouse gas emissions will push global warming past 2 degrees Celsius of temperature rise worldwide, threatening the survival of many people currently living on the planet.

Here's the frightening implication of a landmark study on carbon emissions: by 2018, no new cars, homes, schools, factories, or power plants should be built anywhere in the world, ever again.

High seas fishing is paralyzing ocean's natural carbon-removal system, says new study

rabble staff — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 15:02:45 +0000

Monday, July 21, 2014

Marine life in the high seas soak up twice as much CO2 from the atmosphere as Canada emits every year, a new study by the Global Ocean Commission revealed last month.

Scientists estimate that phytoplankton absorb and bury more than 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 in the seabed every year.

Marine life in the high seas soak up twice as much CO2 from the atmosphere as Canada emits every year, a new study by the Global Ocean Commission revealed last month.

We need a moratorium on any new tar sands expansion

rabble staff — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 17:18:55 +0000

Experts say there needs to be a halt on tar sands development until environmental impacts are properly assessed.

Experts: Halt tar sands development until environmental impacts are properly assessed

rabble staff — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:55:02 +0000

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

A moratorium on any new oil sands expansion is imperative given Canada's failure to properly assess the total environmental and climate impacts, Canadian and U.S. experts say in the prestigious science journal Nature.

Even with a moratorium it will be very difficult for Canada to meet its international promise to reduce CO2 emissions that are overheating the planet according to government documents as previously reported by DeSmog.

A moratorium on any new oil sands expansion is imperative given Canada's failure to properly assess the total environmental and climate impacts, experts say in the prestigious science journal Nature.