We’re entering a brave new world with the transition to clean energy—one of challenge and opportunity. Few places is this more visible than in the world of transportation. While some people see the future as being primarily about electric vehicles, others are questioning our whole approach to getting around.
In this episode, we explore what transportation could look like in the future.
We’ll revisit the 2010 Olympics with Vancouver’s Transportation Planning Manager Dale Bracewell to hear how this temporary experiment in a mass shift of people out of cars showed what’s possible when we collectively point toward a common goal. We take a leap with Gordon Price, professor of transportation planning at Simon Fraser University, into a possible future where commerce, transportation, technology and the service economy could come together into a single transportation service provider.
Listen to Episode 9 next or find all of our previous episodes here.
Find links for more information on the initiatives mentioned in this episode below.
Sue Elrington with Vancouver’s Transportation Planning Manager Dale Bracewell.
When colonizers first set foot on this land, their goal was to claim as much of it as possible for themselves. They paid no attention to the fact that Indigenous peoples here had their own governing structures and laws already in place. To the early settlers and explorers, land equaled money and power. To this day, some of us still view the value of land simply in terms of the money it can generate, whether that’s from logging the trees, mining for gold, digging up oil and gas or developing real estate.
But now we’re confronting the harsh impacts this approach has had for climate change and for Indigenous peoples. So what can we do differently? How can we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?
This episode invites us to rethink our approach, and explore what we can learn from Indigenous law about being more respectful of the land as we transition to clean energy.
We talk with Dene activist Caleb Behn about how renewable energy projects must not be approached in the same ways oil and gas projects have. Molly Wickham of the Wet’suwet’en Nation talks about the impact of disregarding Indigenous knowledge about the land. Northern BC farmers Jim and Pat Strasky describe how fracking has affected their way of life. Finally, Inupiat/Inuvialuit legal scholar Dr. Gordon Christie offers insights on Indigenous law.
Listen to Episode 8 next or find all of our previous episodes here.
Find links for more information on the initiatives mentioned in this episode below.
L-R: Dr. Gordon Christie, Inupiat/Inuvialuit legal scholar; Caleb Behn, Dene activist; and Molly Wickham, spokesperson for the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation
If there’s one thing we can all agree on about oil and gas, it’s that there’s big money in it. Governments invest big money, corporations make big money—and they stand to lose big money as solar and wind rise rapidly. And they spend big money to control the narrative about Canada’s energy and economic future.
Mission Transition breaks down where your tax dollars are being invested, who owns energy, who profits, and who’s at risk of being left out in the cold.
We speak with Bill Carroll, the co-director of the Corporate Mapping Project, about the influence of oil and gas money on the transition.
Listen to Episode 7 next or find all of our previous episodes here.
Find links for more information on the initiatives mentioned in this episode below.
Over the past few decades, oil and gas companies have fueled and financed the pumping of billions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. They’ve cashed in, but who bears the cost now? Who’s responsible when thousands lose their homes to climate change fueled fires and floods? Who pays when crops fail in droughts? Who’s on the hook when house values plummet in hurricane zones? We’re being told it’s up to us as individuals to be responsible for the shift to a climate-friendly world, but is this really fair?
In this episode, we explore who bears the burden of responsibility for this transition.
To find out, we speak with Catherine Gauthier of ENvironnement JEUnesse about their class action lawsuit against Canada over climate inaction. We hear from the Mayor of Victoria, Lisa Helps, about the burden on municipalities. And we talk to Anjali Appadurai formerly of West Coast Environmental Law about who’s really responsible, and how personal guilt is not going to help move us forward.
Listen to Episode 6 next or find all of our previous episodes here.
Find links for more information on the initiatives mentioned in this episode below.
L-R: Anjali Appadurai with Sue Elrington, Lisa Helps and Catherine Gauthier.
Sometimes it seems as though we’re living in different worlds. Most people want solar panels and electric cars, yet our governments are buying pipelines and opening LNG plants. It seems no matter what communities want, bad energy choices are often being inflicted on them. Renewables offer a chance to change this. What would it mean to take back control over our power? Mission Transition explores the idea of energy democracy—one for which many people say the time has come.
We hear from Dene lawyer and activist Caleb Behn about what having a stronger say would mean for Indigenous peoples in BC’s north, as well as BC Government Employees Union Executive Vice-President James Coccola about the impact on workers. We talk to Rob Baxter and Dick Bakker with the Vancouver and Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-ops about where the money for local energy generation comes from.
We also return to Haida Gwaii where local leaders are taking control of their energy. We hear insights at the Haida Gwaii Renewable Energy Symposium from former Council of the Haida Nation President kil tlaats’ gaa Peter Lantin, current CHN President and Swiilawiid Sustainability Society Board Member Jaalen Edenshaw, and head of the CHN Energy Committee Stephen (Buck) Grosse.
Listen to Episode 5 next or find all of our previous episodes here.
Watch videos and find links for more information on the initiatives mentioned in this episode below.
L-R: Dick Bakker, Caleb Behn, kil tlaats’ gaa Peter Lantin, Rob Baxter, James Coccola, Jaalen Edenshaw.
Haida Gwaii has a fossil fuel problem. Every year 30 million litres of diesel are ferried to the island to provide heat, power and gas for its 4,000 residents. The residents are determined to change this, aiming for zero diesel in just over 5 years. It’s an ambitious goal. Mission Transition takes you to Haida Gwaii to find out what fuels their passion for clean energy, how they’re making changes—large and small—and what a community needs to get to 100% renewable.
In this episode, we take you to the Haida Gwaii renewable energy symposium. We’ll hear insights from a number of community members and Haida leaders including former Council of the Haida Nation President kil tlaats’ gaa Peter Lantin, Haida Gwaii Museum Executive Director Jisgang Nika Collison, Yourbrook Energy co-founder Clyde Greenough, artist and Haida activist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, President of the Council of the Haida Nation and Swiilawiid Sustainability Society Board Member Jaalen Edenshaw, Skidegate Band Councillor Trent Moreas and Haida Elder Barbara Wilson.
Listen to Episode 4 next or find all of our previous episodes here.
Watch videos of the people featured in this episode and listen to more extended interviews below!
L-R: kil tlaats’ gaa Peter Lantin, Jisgang Nika Collison, Laird Bateham, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Jaalen Edenshaw, Haana Edenshaw, Clark Simonson and Jason Alsop.
Haida citizen Haana Edenshaw talks to Sierra Club BC’s Caitlyn Vernon at the Haida Gwaii Renewable Energy Symposium about the clean energy future she wants to see. No to dangerous LNG tankers, yes to community consent and renewables!
Listen to more clean energy stories on our podcast: https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast
We are thrilled to be reviewing and now sharing some video clips from the Haida Gwaii Renewable Energy Symposium that took place in G_aw, September 29-30, 2018.
Independence, working together, and local knowledge and expertise were some of the main themes we heard from the community at the 2-day event. Watch Gaagwiis Jason Alsop’s closing comments here:
Barbara Wilson is a Haida citizen completing her Masters in Education focusing on climate change. She speaks passionately about the “Haida way” and what it means for the clean energy transition.
Clark Simonson is a student at Gudangaay Tlaats’gaa Naay High School in Massett. One of the leaders of a plastics-to-fuel recycling project, he shares how he hopes the project will be useful for the transition to clean energy:
Artist and Swiilawiid Sustainability Society board member Jaalen Edenshaw talks about how the residents of Haida Gwaii have come together in the transition:
Jisgang Nika Collison is the Executive Director of the Haida Gwaii Museum. She talks about Haida knowledge and tradition and how it will guide Haida Gwaii in the transition to clean energy.
Former Council of the Haida Nation President kil tlaats’ gaa Peter Lantin speaks about the Council’s search for alternate sources of energy for Haida Gwaii:
Artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas talks about the Haida Gwaii journey to self governance and the importance of that journey to making the transition to clean energy:
