Environment and sustainability

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Over the years, the pursuit of power by politicians and of profit by industrialists has led to a state of warfare against mankind’s principal enemy, which for them, strangely enough, is Planet Earth. The plan “to conquer the Earth” has been freely stated since the time of Francis Bacon.
Over the past four or five years, as the CCPA’s senior editor, I’ve probably read at least 500 articles and essays on climate change and its threat to life on this planet. Many of the articles were written by eminent climatologists, ecologists, and other scientists, sometimes jointly by large groups of them. Others were written by economists, journalists, activists, a few even by politicians and actors.
In an era where taxes have been demonized, BC’s green 2008 budget is newsworthy for its introduction of a new tax on greenhouse gas emissions. But there are some important shortcomings in the plan, and in the rush to green, there is little in the budget to address many other priorities. A carbon tax is laudable in that it signals to businesses and consumers that the government is serious about climate change, and that prices for carbon-intensive goods and services are going to rise.
(Vancouver) In the wake of a Premier's meeting dominated by concerns about climate change policies, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a discussion paper today about ways British Columbia can reconcile economic and social needs with its ambitious emissions reduction targets.
Inside this issue: BC’s Climate Change Strategy and the Fossil Fuel Industry TILMA: A Major Hurdle to BC Climate Action Plan? Privatization by Another Name: BC’s Alternative Service Delivery Plan ‘Welfare to Work’ Didn’t Work The Olympics, Housing and Homelessness in Vancouver Workplace Rights for Recent Immigrants  
Inside this issue: The Clock is Ticking on Homelessness and the Olympics Weighing in on What Matters: How BC Ranks on the 2007 Cascadia Scorecard Field Notes from the Conversation on Health Public Solutions and Private Interests in BC’s Health Care System BC Needs to Enforce Health Care Laws A Tree too Far: BC's Devastating Response to the Pine Beetle Catastrophe Negotiating Without a Floor: BC's Exclusion of Union Members from Employment Standards  
Prime Minister Harper is a very intelligent man, but there are some things that he just can't understand. Or, more accurately, won't understand. Harper's most dangerous delusion is not accepting the scientific consensus that the biggest threat facing Canada - and the world - is the destruction of our environment in general, and global warming in particular.
As people become ever-more aware of climate change and ecological crisis, they are worried, anxious, and looking for solutions. Forgive me if I'm a heretic, but I think the time has passed for telling them to change their behaviour and their lightbulbs, claiming that if "we" all do this, then together "we" can save the planet. I'm sorry, but "we" can't.