Climate Change

Now home with my beloved dogs and the other two-legged being I live with. The concert last evening was truly magical, some artists I knew but two others I did not. So, Patti Smith, Rebecca Foon’s wonderful music I knew but I didn’t know nor understand Flea or Thom Yorke’s music. It is generational, I am a product of the sixties, a Clapton, Deep Floyd, Beatles, Dylan, Cohen, Peter, Paul and Mary, Mick Jagger and many others, so many memories.

I am just leaving Paris for home, and it has been an interesting journey being here after the attacks and the tension throughout the city. The leadership of President Hollande and the French government is absolutely outstanding and many are hopeful that they can bridge the traditional divides. Our French hosts have given negotiators a deadline tomorrow to come up with a draft text that ministers will debate from Monday onwards during the second week of COP.

The Economist is stepping up to the plate, calling for a carbon tax. I have included their entire text  from their Chief Economist, Simon Baptist, below.

An open letter from Canadian physicians calls on Trudeau's government to make the following commitments.

1. Adopt a strong, universal and ambitious global climate agreement at COP21 in which the protection and promotion of health is a central principle.

2. Integrate health considerations into all national planning processes regarding climate mitigation and adaptation.

This article by Bob MacDonald explains how a low-carbon future doesn’t mean losing our lifestyle. And just leaked,  Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande will announce a multinational plan to spend billions on clean energy technology.

7 in 10 Canadians now agree climate change seriously threatens the future of the planet, according to a new poll just released by Angus Reid. And ironically,  one of Canada’s foremost leaders, Maurice Strong died yesterday. His work laid the foundation to the landmark  climate summit in Paris that begins on Monday.

More and more people are now stepping up to the plate in novel ways. Jared Leto has joined forces with the Sierra Club, Environmental Media Association, RYOT (a virtual reality studio), to take viewers on a virtual tour  Alaska’s melting glaciers, in an effort to shed more light on the issues being faced by communities and landscapes so negatively affected by climate change.

Stockholm has reduced its emissions by 35% from 1993 to 2010, but grew its economy by 41%, one of the highest growth rates in Europe. Since 1990, Copenhagen has reduced its carbon emissions by more than 40%, while experiencing real growth of around 50%. Our research in the province of British Columbia also proves you can implement a carbon tax without affecting development.

Rachel Notley just released Alberta’s climate strategy putting a price on carbon that is revenue neutral, following the lead of British Columbia’s carbon tax. Two-thirds of coal-generated electricity will be replaced by renewables—primarily wind power—and a cap on oil sands emissions to name only two initiatives.

Naomi Klein is asking what many of us have been thinking: What is it about climate change that makes us look away and bury our heads, as opposed to reacting with drive, purpose and commitment to change? In her new documentary (based on her best-selling book), she raises a valid, and important point: people have been told that we are the problem, that it is our nature to be destructive.