Tag Archive for: Sierra Club BC

Mission Transition: Clean Energy and Beyond

A podcast from Sierra Club BC

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:46 — 46.4MB)

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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.

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:

Stand with the Wet’suwet’en

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

Mission Transition: Clean Energy and Beyond

A podcast from Sierra Club BC

Listen Now:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:50 — 36.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS | More

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.

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.

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ENvironnement JEUnesse lawsuit against the Canadian government on behalf of young people and a safe climate

Oregon and California crabbers sue fossil fuel companies

More on lawsuits against oil and gas companies from West Coast Environmental Law

Accountability letter a ‘fair’ way to share cost of climate impacts, Victoria mayor asserts

Kim Kardashian’s private firefighters expose America’s fault lines

Wealthy’s use of private firefighters ignites debate in wildfire country

How federal disaster money favors the rich

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps

VIDEO – Anjali Appadurai on feeling guilty About climate change, from West Coast Environmental Law