Canada's Environmental Voice
Climate change, overpopulation, rampant consumerism and other huge problems make it pretty hard to feel hopeful about the fate of the world. We can all rhyme off many ways in which our planet is being assaulted. Yet, according to Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, none of these phenomena are what […]
I imagine the authors of the seminal work “Limits to Growth” are squirming somewhere as they see UK’s greenbelts threatened. The ‘development related’ threats became a hot topic in late 2012, and while the debate appears dormant in the news at the moment, I suspect it will resurface when updates on […]
Energy production is as much a political issue as a technical one, as evidenced by current controversies over sustainable loan guarantees in the United States, proposed pipelines from Alberta’s oil sands and nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. After all, energy is pursued as a strategic […]
The first Greenbelts edition of the A\J podcast features favourite memories of greenbelts around the world. Photo: Arap \ fotolia.com Photo: Donauauen Host Emily Slofstra interviews Ray Tomalty of Smart Cities Research Services about the Montreal Greenbelt. (4:58) A\J contributor Ellen Jakubowski interviews Liana Geidezis on Europe’s Iron Curtain Greenbelt. […]
In 2008, the esteemed Al Gore told Obama he should demand that the US move to 100 per cent renewables within ten years. We’re five years on now, but let’s pretend that Obama is just getting around to this memo on his list of things to do. “Oh darn,” he says to […]
The fashion industry is a symbol of our times—innovative, ever-changing and certainly big business. When you learn that it generates over US$300 billion a year in revenue worldwide, you have to wonder what the cost is. The situation isn’t pretty: the health of our air, water, land and people is […]
This month’s Greenbelts issue was still hot off the press when A\J was once again reminded of the need to actively protect our green spaces. While we were assembling the issue in late January, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), the provincial adjudicative tribunal for municipal and planning issues, ruled in favour […]
Canada has some very successful greenbelts. They promote urban density, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offer a host of recreation possibilities, among other benefits.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) just released State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a disturbing report that takes on the link between endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and disease in both humans and wildlife. It calls for more research, testing, reporting, and collaboration […]
The Canada of 2035 will be a very different place. We’ll be a nation of 43 million people; the GTA alone will balloon to more than nine million residents. It is hard to fathom the changes society will undergo in the next 22 years. Just think back to 1991 (if […]
