What’s next: 10 ways you can build on the climate strike momentum
From September 20 to 27, more than 7.6 million people across the globe rose up for climate justice. So, what’s next?
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Electrification of fracking and LNG will fuel climate change, not solve it
Sierra Club BC released the following statement from campaigns director Caitlyn Vernon in response to today’s joint federal-provincial announcement about electrification of fracking and LNG:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 29, 2019
“Electrification of fracking and LNG is not effective climate action. It’s the opposite: it locks us into ongoing carbon pollution that will worsen the climate emergency, at a time when we have very few years to rapidly phase out the use of coal, oil and gas.
“Whatever gas is saved by electrifying fracking operations will still be burned when the gas is exported overseas. Today’s announcement has no net benefit for the climate. By facilitating the expansion of fracking, it will make things worse.
“Electrification of fracking keeps us on a path to more frequent extreme weather events, bigger, more destructive wildfires and less reliable supplies of food and clean drinking water.
“Our health and well-being will suffer more. Our children’s future will be further compromised.
“Sierra Club BC supports the provincial government’s CleanBC program. We agree that rapid electrification is at the core of an effective response to the climate crisis, but electrification must transition us away from the use and export of fossil fuels, not lock us into ongoing carbon pollution.
“The 2019 B.C. budget announced $107 million for cleaner transportation, and $58 million for improving the energy efficiency of buildings, creating good jobs in the process. Yet this investment pales in comparison to today’s announcement of $680 million in taxpayer dollars to support the fossil fuel industry whose carbon pollution threatens our health and security.
“Kids around the world have been taking to the streets calling for governments to defend them, their future, and the places they love from the threats posed by the climate emergency. And yet the day after Greta Thunberg arrives in North America on a sailboat, our governments are crushing the hopes of young people by subsidizing oil and gas corporations rather than investing in renewable energy solutions.
“The Amazon is burning. The Arctic is burning. Salmon are dying from the heat.
“We are in a climate emergency. For our children and grandchildren, we must rebuild an energy system based on renewable energy, not fossil fuels.”
-30-
Media contact:
Caitlyn Vernon
Campaigns Director
Sierra Club BC
250-896-3500
caitlyn@sierraclub.bc.ca
EVENT: Sierra Club BC Annual General Meeting
Please join Sierra Club BC at our Annual General Meeting in Vancouver.
A Green New Deal for Canada? (Season 2, Ep. 9)
Mission Transition: Clean Energy and Beyond
A podcast from Sierra Club BC
Listen Now:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:00 — 42.6MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS | More
The midterm elections in the United States brought a new kind of politician to Washington. Young people from all walks of life who are determined to use the transition to clean energy as a means to secure a better life for all.
They’re calling it the Green New Deal.
What does this emerging movement look like north of the border, and how can we tap it to get politicians onside as champions for more ambitious climate action? How is job security a central piece of this puzzle? In this episode we explore this movement for a just transition and what it could mean for you.
We interview Cree activist, writer and 350.org campaigner Clayton Thomas-Müller and Vancouver-based organizer Nayeli Jimenez about the campaign for a Green New Deal for Canada.
This was the final episode of Season 2! Listen to Episode 8 or find all of our previous episodes here.
Find links for more information on the initiatives mentioned in this episode below.
(L-R): Clayton Thomas-Müller at a Green New Deal Town Hall and Nayeli Jimenez.
Mentioned in this episode:
Sierra Club BC – The Pact for a Green New Deal
Video – Canada: Green New Deal Town Halls
Video – Our Time Green New Deal Video
Learn More
The urgency and ambition of the Green New Deal
A primer on the Green New Deal in the U.S. and Canada
The Canadian Green New Deal and migrant justice
Neil Young, Evangeline Lilly And More Canadian Stars Sign The Pact For A Green New Deal
Riding into the Future (Season 2, Ep. 8)
Mission Transition: Clean Energy and Beyond
A podcast from Sierra Club BC
Listen Now:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:41 — 43.5MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS | More
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.
Mentioned in this episode:
City of Vancouver Transportation 2040 Plan
Learn More
Douglas Magazine: Yes, We’re Still Smart
What’s It Like Living in a City Without Uber or Lyft? Ask Vancouver.
This Is the Year Electric Car Racing Gets Real
The rise of mobility as a service: Reshaping how urbanites get around (2017)
Dalhousie University Connect Smart – What is Mobility as a Service (MaaS)?
Rethinking Land (Season 2, Ep. 7)
Mission Transition: Clean Energy and Beyond
A podcast from Sierra Club BC
Listen Now:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:46 — 46.4MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS | More
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
Connect:
Study of Indigenous Law: University of Victoria and University of British Columbia
Learn More
Tackling Inequality with Land Ownership Laws
On Fracking and Farming in Northern BC
Video: Indigenous Law Event at UVic with John Burrows and Val Napolean
