The throne speech Premier John Horgan means to give
In this piece, I once again have some fun writing an imaginary throne speech, this time for the BC government. Here is what a BC throne speech might sound like, if it were to recognize that we live at a time of multiple interlocking crises — the climate emergency, the pandemic, the housing crisis, a poisonous drug supply crisis, and growing inequality — and resolve to govern accordingly.
Our politics must not be about the art of the narrowly possible, but rather, about making possible what yesterday seemed unimaginable. There is only one way to meet such interlocking crises: Head on. Together. With ambition and defiance, creativity and solidarity. Enjoy.
Read More
From leader to follower: B.C.’s updated climate plan – its “CleanBC Roadmap to 2030” – is not an emergency plan
On October 25, the British Columbia government released the long-awaited update to its provincial climate plan, dubbed its “CleanBC Roadmap to 2030.” it is not an emergency plan. The B.C. government is very keen about its reputation as a climate leader, and repeatedly claims that its plan is “continent-leading.” A reasonable case in support of this proposition might have been possible three years ago. But it is not true any longer.
Read More
Message to our new Parliament: Time for a real climate emergency plan
Just a few months ago, it seemed like climate would struggle to make an appearance in this election, pushed aside by the pressing realities of the COVID crisis. But in a positive turn of events this election, we saw parties competing with each other about which had the stronger and most convincing climate plan. Canadians want to see bold action on climate. But once again, support for that action has been split across numerous parties. Hence this minority outcome. Now we need them to co-operate and get it done.
Read More
A different take on rating the party climate platforms(and why you should take Mark Jaccard’s ratings with a hunk of salt)
SFU economist Mark Jaccard, in his recent assessment of federal party climate platforms published in Policy Options, finds the Liberals’ climate plan the “most sincere” of those on offer, followed by the Conservatives, then the Greens, and lastly, the NDP. Jaccard’s piece has been irresistible candy for the political punditry, and has been quickly turned into Liberal campaign talking points. But it’s fundamentally flawed. The main problem with Jaccard’s ratings is he’s measuring the wrong thing. His ratings are primarily derived by determining whether the policies proposed by each party would credibly meet that party’s own stated GHG reduction target. But by this measure, the more ambitious the target, the less likely Jaccard is to find your plan credible. It’s like an Olympic diver getting the top score because she or he successfully nails the least complicated dive.
Read More
In a climate emergency election, find your climate justice champion
The path to victory with a real climate emergency and a just transition plan is narrow. To win one, two elements are needed: First, we desperately need to hold the government to a minority. Second, we need to elect a huge contingent of true climate justice champions — people who genuinely get the emergency and will insist on bold action. With the country on fire, we need to elect political firefighters. We need to bolster the ranks of the climate squad across a number of parties. So, find your climate champion! If you don’t think you have one in your riding or, more likely, you don’t think they have a realistic chance of winning in your riding, then find one in a neighbouring winnable riding, and do everything you can to get them elected — donate, volunteer, organize, and vote.
Read More
Time to ban fossil fuel advertising: Why are we letting fossil fuel companies sell us our own demise?
We no longer allow cigarette and tobacco ads on TV, radio or in movie theatres, given the known harm these products cause. Why then do we permit ads for the fossil fuel products we know to be a civilizational threat? These ads send a message, even if we don’t buy the specific product they are selling. They normalize what must now be wound down and encourage young people in particular to idealize these products and the lifestyles they promote. That needs to end. Emergencies need to look, sound and feel like emergencies. But ubiquitous advertising of fossil fuel vehicles, gas stations, gas suppliers and appliances, air travel and the ongoing sponsorship of arts and sports events by fossil fuel companies all sends a confusing message — are we facing a climate emergency or aren’t we?
Read More
B.C. is in a state of climate emergency without an emergency plan: As the crisis manifests, it’s time the provincial government gave its climate plan a reboot
British Columbia is having its summer of reckoning with the climate emergency. With a jolt to our collective consciousness, most of us now understand the emergency is well and truly upon us. But we meet this moment unprepared, without a genuine and robust climate emergency plan, and with a political leadership that seems unwilling or unable to “get it” on climate. CleanBC, the province’s official climate plan, is frequently touted as the strongest such plan in Canada. And relatively speaking, it likely is. But that’s not saying much. What the plan is decidedly not is an actual climate emergency plan. In this piece, I consider B.C.’s current climate plan against what I call the “Four Markers of Emergency Mode.”
Read More
Can Jonathan Wilkinson be our C.D. Howe? What it means to occupy a pivotal cabinet post in a time of emergency
When it came time for the Canadian government to meet the emergency of the Second World War, one man (they were all men) within Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s cabinet stood out – C.D. Howe. Today, as we struggle to meet the climate emergency, another transformation of our economy is called for. And that has me wondering: Can Jonathan Wilkinson, our federal minister of environment and climate change, the person charged with overseeing the decarbonization of Canada’s economy and society in the face of a civilizational threat, be our C.D. Howe?
Read More
The case for a Youth Climate Corps
The climate mobilization in Canada has yet to feel like a grand societal undertaking. Among the bold initiatives that would send such a signal — an audacious Youth Climate Corps. As the world has begun to confront the climate crisis, the last few years have seen a burgeoning of youth leadership. As in WWII, youth are once again mobilizing to secure our collective future. But so far, our governments have failed to create public programs to accept and deploy their energies and talents. A new generation of young people needs a way to meet this moment.
Read More
Time to stop playing nice with fossil fuel companies blocking climate emergency action
The country’s leading “natural” gas companies seek to impede electrification.
Among the many barriers we face to a genuine climate emergency plan is a fossil fuel industry that has insidiously used its economic and political power to stall meaningful action. In this piece, I add into evidence some recent examples of the “natural” gas industry making mischief with needed climate action. Fuel-switching our buildings to electricity — mainly by means of high-efficiency electric heat pumps and induction electric stoves — represents a vital and urgent piece of decarbonizing our society and driving down GHG emissions. But natural gas utilities are employing a bag of tricks to slow the move to electrify our buildings.
Read More
A moment – yet to come – for federal leadership on the climate emergency
A harrowing gap remains between what science says is required and the policy and budgetary commitments we’ve seen so far. The federal government has the legal right to act in the national interest and the moral duty to forcefully do so. The mobilization we now need cannot be prevented by the foot-dragging of some provincial governments. Sadly, however, this federal government has so far shown no sign of truly understanding the climate emergency. If our urgent targets are to be met, the government must either take charge of the task itself — spending what it takes to succeed and creating new public institutions to get the job done — or it must mandate that certain action be taken, by both industry and households. That is the only path to victory.
Read More
Biden vs Trudeau on what climate leadership looks like (spoiler alert: Trudeau is not looking good)
Seven years ago, Trudeau was the golden new arrival on the global scene, an embodiment of hope at home and abroad, particularly with respect to the defining challenge of our time — the climate emergency. In the Trump era, Trudeau seemed a beacon of climate sanity and action (at least in the North American context). But today, the U.S. is catapulting ahead of Canada, with Biden seizing the mantle of exciting climate leadership, while Trudeau’s record appears lacklustre and tepid in comparison.
Read More
Can the Alberta NDP tell a new climate story?
Would a second Notley government be prepared to tackle the climate crisis more aggressively than during its first incarnation? Might the NDP, eight years after their first election to government, be able to tell a more forthright story to Albertans about the future of oil and gas? And equally important, has the terrain sufficiently shifted such that enough Albertans might be ready to hear it?
Read More
Time for zero carbon housing and buildings in BC
BC should thus commit to fully phasing out the use of fossil fuels for domestic purposes to clearly signal that we are on a wind-down path. BC should announce that—within the next one to two years—no new buildings (residential, commercial or public such as hospitals and schools) will be allowed to use natural gas or tie into natural gas pipelines. All new buildings would need to use electric, heat pump, space and hot water heating and next-generation electric induction stoves. In addition, the province should regulate that all existing buildings will need to be off gas by 2040 and develop transition plans starting with older, less-efficient building stock.
Read More
We've run out the clock — and Trudeau's climate accountability bill isn't enough
On November 19, Justin Trudeau’s federal government tabled its long-awaited bill seeking to embed new greenhouse gas reduction targets into law. But sadly, Bill C-12, dubbed the “Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act,” provides virtually nothing in the way of robust accountability. In its current form it is, in short, a stunning disappointment and desperately in need of amendments to make the bill worthwhile. This is a moment for the NDP and BQ to use the powers and influence this minority Parliament affords them to demand improvements to C-12. And Liberal MPs who ran on climate need to make their voices heard. They need to exercise their political muscle, as this bill in its current state fails to reflect the urgency of the climate emergency. And all of us who want real climate accountability need to make sure all MPs know how we feel.
Read More
Just transition planning for a managed wind-down of fossil fuels in BC
As we contemplate the necessary phase out of fossil fuels by mid-century, we must acknowledge the potential of this transformation to disrupt worker livelihoods and resource communities around BC. Done well, a managed two- to three-decade wind-down period with thoughtful planning and just transition programs has the additional benefit of getting away from the boom-and-bust cycles typical of resource economies.
Read More
Towards a managed wind-down: the conversation BC needs to have
In BC, in spite of climate action planning going back to 2007, the idea of a managed wind-down of fossil fuel industries remains a taboo topic. Given the late hour in confronting the climate emergency, it is time our governments stopped trying to appease these fossil fuel companies. Our official climate plans should not seek to win the support or endorsement of these companies (as is currently the case). Rather, if our climate plans are not making the oil and gas companies deeply anxious, they are not plans worth having. Given this, the article asks, what would a managed wind-down look like?
Read More
Canada must adopt an emergency mindset to climate change
Since releasing my book, I have frequently been asked, “How do you know when a government gets the emergency?” Here are my four markers for when you know that a government has shifted into emergency mode:
1) It spends what it takes to win;
2) It creates new economic institutions to get the job done;
3) It shifts from voluntary and incentive-based policies to mandatory measures;
4) It tells the truth about the severity of the crisis and communicates a sense of urgency about the measures necessary to combat it.
Read More
Why inequality must be linked to climate emergency action
The more a bold and transformative climate plan is seen as linked to an ambitious plan to tackle inequality, economic insecurity, poverty and job creation, the more likely people are to support it.
Read More
As we emerge from one crisis and confront the next, let youth lead, serve and vote
As the young people in our society come to the end of a school year unlike any before, and those in their teens and early 20s in particular wrestle with what the coming year or two will look like, Canada’s Second World War story has some useful guidance to offer. In the Second World War, over one million Canadians enlisted for military service, a remarkable level of participation, particularly given what those who signed up were prepared to sacrifice. Of the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who went to fight overseas, from all corners of the country and many ethnic backgrounds, the overriding characteristic most had in common was their youth. The good news for today is that the crises we must confront call upon us to help and to heal – both society and the planet – rather than to fight and kill.
Read More
