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Indigenous people are fighting for us all
By
David Suzuki
| February 1, 2017

In the 1990s, the David Suzuki Foundation embarked on a program to develop community economic projects with coastal First Nations. Between 1998 and 2003, my wife and foundation co-founder, Tara Cullis, established relationships with 11 coastal communities from the tip of Vancouver Island to Haida Gwaii and Alaska, visiting each several times.

She encountered unemployment and a desperate need for jobs and economic development in every community. Then came pressure for pipeline projects and court-mandated consultation with First Nations. Federal and provincial governments began offering huge financial incentives for pipeline approvals. But opposition remained strong because some things are more important than money.

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Image: Wikimedia Commons/David Rydevik
It's time to heed warnings about humanity's collision course
By
David Suzuki
| January 4, 2017

The longer we delay addressing environmental problems, the more difficult it will be to resolve them. Although we've known about climate change and its potential impacts for a long time, and we're seeing those impacts worsen daily, our political representatives are still approving and promoting fossil fuel infrastructure as if we had all the time in the world to slow global warming.

We can't say we weren't warned. In 1992, a majority of living Nobel prize-winners and more than 1,700 leading scientists worldwide signed a remarkable document called "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity."

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New report says climate change is worse than we thought

Photo: Joe Brusky/flickr
Even as president-elect Donald Trump appoints his climate change-denying senior advisers, scientists report that runaway climate change is already happening.

Related rabble.ca story:

Is climate change as bad as we thought? It's worse.
Tags:
Climate Change global warming climate change denial climate agreement climate science Environment minister environmental commissioner of ontario Donald Trump
Columnists

Is climate change as bad as we thought? It's worse.

Photo: Joe Brusky/flickr

Dianne Saxe, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), has just released her 2016 climate report. Chapter 1 is a brilliant summary of the science behind climate change, with a focus on how it will impact Ontario. Saxe pulls no punches. Her report contains a graphic asking, "Is it as bad as we thought?" The answer: "It's worse."

For some time, there have been rumblings in the scientific community that politicians, the media and reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are understating the degree to which the Earth is in trouble from climate change. 

Tags:
Climate Change global warming climate change denial climate agreement climate science Environment minister environmental commissioner of ontario Donald Trump

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Image: Flickr/Akuppa John Wigham
Trump climate change adviser provides CBC with dubious sources
By
Karl Nerenberg
| November 24, 2016

Karl Nerenberg is your reporter on the Hill. Please consider supporting his work with a monthly donation. Support Karl on Patreon today for as little as $1 per month!

Keep Karl on Parl

On Wednesday, CBC Radio's Carol Off interviewed Donald Trump's climate change adviser, Robert Walker, former chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and she seems to have got under his skin.

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Image: Flickr/Michael
Heated debates ignore an overheating planet
By
David Suzuki
| October 26, 2016

Scientists worldwide accept that Earth is warming at an unusually rapid rate, that humans are primarily responsible, mainly by burning fossil fuels, and that the consequences for humanity will be disastrous if we don't take immediate, widespread action. The U.S. Defense Department calls climate change a security risk "because it degrades living conditions, human security and the ability of governments to meet the basic needs of their populations."

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One year after election, Trudeau still needs to turn environmental rhetoric into reality

Image: PMO/Adam Scotti
Unless Trudeau's rhetoric turns into reality, the Liberals will usher in an era of record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather events that will make even last summer look mild.

Related rabble.ca story:

One year after election, Trudeau's climate mettle no better than Harper's
Tags:
Climate Change Canadian politics Liberal Party global warming rhetoric Justin Trudeau
Image: PMO/Adam Scotti
One year after election, Trudeau's climate mettle no better than Harper's
By
James Hutt
| October 18, 2016

It's been a year since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister and the Liberal Party gained an overwhelming majority in parliament. Trudeau swept most of the country, including all of Atlantic Canada, on a platform of Real Change. He promised a 180-degree shift on most of the Harper government's policies, especially on climate change. Yet, one year later, Trudeau's lofty promises have little substance to show for them. His government is in bed with the oil and gas industry, just as cozily as Harper's was.

The rights of First Nations continue to be ignored when they don't align with the Liberals' economic plan.

Time for action

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Image: Wikimedia Commons/Eric Kounce
We can't dig our way out of the fossil fuels pit
By
David Suzuki
| October 12, 2016

I've often thought politicians inhabit a parallel universe. Maybe it's just widespread cognitive dissonance, coupled with a lack of imagination, that compels them to engage in so much contradictory behaviour. Trying to appease so many varying interests isn't easy.

Rather than focusing on short-term economic and corporate priorities, though, politicians should first consider the long-term health and well-being of the people they're elected to represent. When it comes to climate change and fossil fuels, many aren't living up to that.

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Image: Flickr/Damián Bakarcic
Carbon dioxide: Pollutant or plant food?
By
David Suzuki
| September 28, 2016

Life evolved to live within limits. It's a delicate balance. Humans need oxygen, but too much can kill us. Plants need nitrogen, but excess nitrogen harms them, and pollutes rivers, lakes and oceans. Ecosystems are complex. Our health and survival depend on intricate interactions that ensure we get the right amounts of clean air, water, food from productive soils and energy from the sun.

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