Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The two greatest existential threats facing the nation—viral pandemics and climate change—demand a science-based response. So, it is hardly surprising that the relationship between science and the federal government is being debated in this year of chaos, crisis, and calamity.
The institution behind the Great Barrington Declaration, the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), is a free-market think tank tied to funding from the Koch petrochemical and industrial empire and an investment firm with significant holdings in fossil fuels.
Because the film is so compelling and Attenborough such a sympathetic person, viewers may accept all of its statements and arguments. This would, however, be a mistake in my opinion.
In sum, it is irrational to hope, against the evidence, that our existing economic system will deliver the development outcomes we want while at the same time reversing ecological breakdown. We need to be smarter than that.
We get an update from Chile, where an overwhelming majority have voted to rewrite the country’s Pinochet dictatorship-era constitution and tens of thousands poured into the streets to celebrate.
This weekend, Keir Starmer (the leader of UK’s Labour Party) made a decision that million of other British people make every day. He probably didn’t even think twice about it. But that decision had consequences — for his neighbourhood, for the air, for the climate and for one stranger who, because of this decision, would end their weekend in the hospital.
The Conference Board report appeared two weeks after the publication of a highly-detailed analysis by energy expert David Hughes that said the math on LNG did not add up in terms of economics, climate change, jobs or royalties.
As we cannot now afford to take vast tracts of land out of production due to the high and growing global population, the only viable option has to be to farm all land in harmony with wildlife and preserve what little wilderness is left.
Truth isn’t political. If anything it is anti-political, since historically it has often been positioned against politics. Truth-tellers have always stood outside the political realm as the object of collective scorn.
Democratizing and decommodifying work, and remediating the environment are essential to sustain life on this planet. However, this cannot be done through limiting ourselves to well-worn social democratic thinking.
Anyone who thinks the climate community will not have Donald J. Trump to kick around anymore after the votes are tallied in November is sure to be disappointed. His works and what he’s wrought will linger long after the man has left the building.
Tzeporah Berman has been designing environmental campaigns and working on environmental policy in Canada and beyond for over twenty years. Tzeporah shares her thoughts on What Could Possibly Go Right?
