Canada's Environmental Voice
FOR MOST CANADIANS, energy efficiency is synonymous with light bulbs. Switching to compact fluorescents might be simple and inexpensive, but it is not the only cost-effective way to reduce energy use in homes, businesses and utilities. Reducing water use, especially the hot stuff that flows from showers and cleans our […]
THE SUMMER OF 2009 marked a tumultuous stage in the evolution of electricity policy in Ontario, and the future path of the province’s electricity system remains uncertain.
Energy: Can’t live with it; can’t live without it. In fact, over 80 per cent of our emissions causing climate change are energy-related. From the difficulties in getting Canadians to conserve to carbon trading with a conscience and concerns about nuclear options, this issue of Alternatives provides a fresh and […]
IN 2012 it seems easy to mudsling the truth until it’s a total mess. This weakness is not new – women, homosexuals and people of colour who lived just 50 years ago might argue that 21st century reality is far less distorted. What distinguishes our time is that we can access […]
SOME OF THE MOST important controversies we face today are those with a scientific underpinning – but a public consequence. Anthropogenic climate change, GMOs and nuclear power are among them. The curious feature of these so-called “scientific” controversies is that most members of the public take a stance, pro or […]
DAVID SCHINDLER is one of Canada’s most influential environmental scientists, both at home and abroad. Between 1968 and 1989, he directed the Experimental Lakes Area research facility in Ontario, leading experiments on freshwater ecosystems that advanced our understanding of the effects of nutrient enrichment, acid rain and climate change. An […]
Read the first half of the interview that was published in In Defence of Science. Stephen Bocking: Would you say that this is the most critical period in environmental protection, at least going back to the 1960s?
THE LATEST FILM by Swiss-Canadian director Léa Pool argues that breast cancer is not just a disease but also a massive and extremely lucrative new industry. Drawing on interviews with social critics (including the brilliant Barbara Ehrenreich), survivors, doctors and funders, Pink Ribbons, Inc. finds searing answers about how much […]
QUICK, NOW. What’s worse: a punch in the nose or a poke in the eye? An ugly divorce or a year in the slammer? Deep drilling in the Gulf of Mexico or tar-sands mining in Alberta? Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice has an opinion on the latter. In a statement […]
IN A RUGGED KNOT of mountains in the remote reaches of Northern British Columbia lies a stunningly beautiful valley known to the First Nations as the Sacred Headwaters. There, on the southern edge of the Spatsizi Wilderness, the Serengeti of Canada, are born in remarkably close proximity three of Canada’s […]
