Alaska, Washington Tribes condemn BC’s flawed consultation policy
This blog post will be a copy of the Press Release received today from prnewswire. The release is too long to be cut and pasted into a thread on Mastodon, but I think is very important and deserves to be read – on both sides of the border.
BELLINGHAM, Wash.—U.S. Tribal Nations along British Columbia’s northwestern and southern borders are denouncing a new proposal that would give them a separate and diminished voice in large development projects impacting their traditional homelands and watersheds.
In Alaska, a group of Tribes with ancestral homelands along BC’s transboundary rivers are seeking to be consulted on multiple risky and under-regulated gold mines that threaten the rivers, fish and the people in the region and their ways of life. In Washington, the Lummi Nation is asserting their transboundary rights to consult on a massive port expansion of the BC Roberts Bank Terminal that would harm Chinook salmon, Southern Resident orca whales and the Lummi people.
According to the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2021 decision in R. v. Desautel, Indigenous peoples in the U.S. whose ancestral lands were taken and divided by the U.S.-Canada border may assert rights as aboriginal peoples of Canada and engage in meaningful government-to-government consultation on projects affecting them.
However, BC’s Environmental Assessment Office recently notified the 15 member Tribes of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) and the Lummi Nation that their rights will be “distinct” and “differentiated” from those of First Nations in BC. Both SEITC and Lummi have asked Canada for recognition as a Participating Indigenous Nation to protect aboriginal and treaty rights and natural resources from reckless development projects.
“For hundreds of years, our way of life has depended on the fertile fisheries and clean waters of the Fraser River watershed,” said Lummi Nation Chairman Anthony Hillaire. “These waters are now directly threatened by the expansion of a busy, dirty, and noisy port. In Desautel, the Supreme Court of Canada described a process for Canadian public entities and our community to follow, and BC is ignoring that. Instead, BC intends to create a reductive consultation policy separate from the policy which has long been afforded to First Nations. We believe that BC’s theory of a separate process is wrong and harmful. While BC avoids meeting their duty to consult, they can continue doling out permits and creating facts on the ground that will poison our fish, degrade our waters, and violate our treaty rights. Approving projects like the Roberts Bank Terminal without engaging in deep consultation neglects a crucial opportunity to enact transboundary protection of our natural resources and our communities as the pace of global warming accelerates. Although this is an issue of Indigenous rights in which Lummi, Alaskan and many First Nations find common cause, it also affects every person who lives here and who depends on the clean waters, the rivers, and the fish of this region.”
“The remaining lands unexploited by resource extraction consist primarily of Indigenous territory,” said SEITC President Esther Reese.“We are the stewards of some of the world’s last wild salmon rivers that have defined our lifeways for thousands of years. The colonial border separating our rivers from their headwaters did not exist in our ancestors’ time. In response to efforts to seek deep consultation regarding the large-scale gold mining project, Eskay Creek in the Unuk River watershed, BC is now negotiating in bad faith. Inconsistent with “the honor of the Crown,” BC has come up with a proposal to artificially divide the rights of Canadian and US Indigenous peoples, but the law is clear: We have a right to sit at the same table where all those Indigenous to these watersheds belong. Our voices are critically important on all development projects affecting our watersheds.”
Judicial review of BC’s decision to grant permits for the expansion of Roberts Bank in violation of Lummi’s asserted rights will begin on Wednesday, June 26 in Vancouver.
BC is also expected to begin accepting public comments on Skeena Resources’ Application for an Environmental Assessment Certificate on the proposed Eskay Creek Mine in late June.
# # #
ABOUT LUMMI NATION
For thousands of years, the Lummi have been an independent and self-sufficient people. Today, we are a sovereign Tribal Nation within Washington state, and manager of 13,000 acres of tidelands on the Lummi Reservation. We respect our traditions, maintain our tribal values and invest in economic development for our people.
ABOUT SEITC
Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) is a consortium of 15 Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Nations upholding their sovereign rights and defending the transboundary Stikine, Taku and Unuk Rivers from the rapidly expanding mining development occurring in the Canadian headwaters.
20th Anniversary – probably
In 2004 I found myself unemployed. By some strange coincidence this morning I read a post from Ben Parfitt “Thanks for the Great Ride“. It seems that just as I was looking for a new job he had found one: “my new capacity as a resource policy analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC Office.”
I wasn’t exactly clear on the precise date of either event, so I went looking in my filing cabinet and came across this document
I had not been a member of ITE before but I did possess an ITE coffee mug. Sadly its gilt identity wore off many years ago but I still use it. They gave it to me years earlier as thanks for a talk I gave to their Vancouver chapter. I also got a really nice flashlight but that relied on a plastic part in its switch – which failed with age, and so has been recycled. I no longer can refer to its identity.
Some years later (June 2008 actually) I got a much sought after place on an ITE tour of the then recently completed Canada Line tunnel
I did not get very many offers of employment – and none were full time – so I have allowed my ITE membership to lapse. But Ben Parfitt has been very active in the same sorts of issues I concerned myself with. I belonged to a number of activist organisations and was even asked to run for MLA by the BC Green Party. I am not sure if I ever met Ben but our paths must have crossed so when I read of his intention to retire I did feel a bit sad – though he deserves a break more than most, I think.
I don’t do nearly as much political activity these days. About the only thing I am currently committed to is posting stuff to Mastodon. It is very frustrating that so many organisations like the CCPA or the David Suzuki Foundation have not signed up for Mastodon but continue to rely on X and Facebook – even though many people no longer wish to be associated with Musk or Zuckerberg. In fact I cut Ben’s post into ten pieces to fit mas.to’s format before I noticed the link I give at the top of this post.
Test post
Can I insert images just by relying on Flickr URL’s?
“Hyperion is composed of 5ton bundle of crushed rebar ripped from the concrete walls of a demolished Vancouver building that now emerges from its own concrete foundation. Pulsating neon is woven throughout the twisted rebar emulating its form while a chain rachet is bound tight around its center storing static energy within. A giant ship chain encircling and appearing to float around the piece is beginning to break apart seemingly unable to withstand the energy from within.”
The installation is part of Tap & Barrel Group’s ongoing commitment to supporting local artists and hopes that it will bring people together and spark meaningful conversations.
source: granville_island on Instagram
I only get a limited amount of space to upload the images to WordPress since this is a free account. But since I can use URLs this may not be a problem.
A bit awkward at first since the seat had been left far too forward for me, and can’t be moved manually but needs to have the motor running. No sunshine roof and the parking brake is operated by a button not a pedal. Excellent performance in traffic.
So the main question is does this use of the blog add to the reach of my posting things to Flickr – and then adding links on Mastodon and MetaPixl.
Comments are open for feed back
The new “Human Transit” arrives February 6!
Today I got a largish email from Jarret Walker, who I greatly admire. This blog post is just a cut and paste of much of what he sent me. I will be asking for a review copy of his new book and that could also lead to a review here in due course, but even without reading I would recommend you look at his offer of a discounted price.
There was going to be a picture of the cover here but WordPress tells me that at 123kb it is “too big”
| Our big news for 2024 is the Revised Edition of my book Human Transit, which goes on sale February 6.First published in 2011, Human Transit is one of the few books that explains public transportation concepts in plain language, to empower both advocates and professionals to think more clearly about their options. Now, I have updated and expanded the book to address the challenges of the 2020s. There’s new material on many issues, including: – planning for a diversity of riders – access to opportunity as a planning goal – on-demand transit – free fares – bus network redesign |
| To see more about what’s new, you can read the preface and Table of Contents, below. |
If you’d like to pre-order a copy from Island Press, use the code WALKER, which is good for a 20% discount. You can also order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your local independent bookseller.
If you have any questions or ideas for how to use the book in your own work, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at jarrett@jarrettwalker.com. I hope you enjoy the new Human Transit.
Preface to the Revised Edition of Human Transit
This book, aimed at a nontechnical reader, explores the challenging questions that you must think about when planning or advocating for public transit in your community. Ever since the first edition was released, public transit professionals have been thanking me for giving them something they can ask others to read, to help them form clearer expectations of public transit and see its real possibilities. Some public transit authorities have given copies to the elected leaders who make the big decisions. Over a decade later, the book is still widely read and used.
Why update it, then? The world has changed since the book came out in 2011, so there are some new issues to address. The new popularity of working from home, which began with the COVID-19 pandemic, has changed the patterns of travel demand. Some issues have become more urgent, such as land use planning and the suburbanization of poverty, so they are featured more. Rising concerns about racial and social justice have also driven an increased interest in free fares in some countries, so the chapter on fares is expanded to explore that issue.
Another big change since 2011 has been the flood of venture capital funding for companies attempting to “transform” or “disrupt” public transit in some way. These companies have unleashed enormous public relations campaigns to make us all focus on their inventions. They have produced both great innovations and a lot of hype and distraction, so in the opening chapters, I’ve put some energy into helping the reader sort through their claims.
Since the book first came out, I’ve continued working as a transit planning consultant, so I have another decade of experience to draw on. Our consulting firm, Jarrett Walker + Associates, now works in more parts of the world, so I have more international examples.
It’s become more obvious that people need help thinking about the diversity of people who find transit useful and resisting the urge to assign them to narrow categories, so I’ve added a new chapter on that, whose title comes from an instructive outburst by Elon Musk. There’s also a new chapter on my own specialty, bus network redesign.
The single most important change, though, is that in the last few years, I’ve become convinced of the importance of freedom, not just as a feel-good word but as a thing we can measure and plan for. So there’s a new chapter about access to opportunity—your freedom to go places so that you can do things—and many of the book’s arguments are restructured to refer to it.
But despite all these changes, the core idea of the book remains. The most important things to know about public transit—the purely geometric facts about why it matters and how it works—will always be current as long as we have cities. Explanations of these facts throughout the book are improved but need no correction. You can count on these things always being true, no matter what world events and technological disruptions come along.
I’m immensely grateful to everyone who’s told me how useful Human Transit has been for them, and those who have given me the feedback I needed to make it better. I hope this book is useful to you for many years to come, even after the next event or invention that seems, at first, as if it will change everything.
Introduction
What Transit Is and Does
What Makes Transit Useful? Seven Demands and How Transit Serves Them
The Wall Around Your Life: Access to Opportunity
A Bunch of Random Strangers: Planning for Diversity
Lines, Loops, and Longing
Touching the City: Stops and Stations
Peak or All Day?
Frequency is Freedom
The Obstacle Course: Speed and Reliability
Ridership or Coverage: The Challenge of Allocating Service
Can Fares Be Fair?
Connections or Complexity?
From Connections to Networks to Places
Network Design and Redesign
Be on the Way! Moral Implications of Location Choice
On the Boulevard
Take the Long View
Epilogue: Geometry, Choices, Freedom
Parks Board
There is a move afoot at Vancouver City council to abolish the Parks Board. I got an email asking me to attend a meeting opposing this. Actually I am not at all certain that this is quite as terrible as some may think.
No other city in Canada has an independently elected Parks Board. If everyone else seems to cope without one, why do we need one?
The current Parks Board has made some very unfortunate decisions which have caused people to question their motivation. The one that pops straight into my mind is the removal of the dedicated bike lane in Stanley Park. They appear to have a strong preference for people who drive cars over those who find more environmentally friendly ways of getting around. There is also a somewhat contentious horse drawn bus service, which some find a nuisance – because it slows traffic – and others who think using horses to haul buses is cruelty. (Incidentally, off season the same horse drawn bus appears in Kerrisdale and slows traffic on 41st Avenue and West Boulevard quite nicely.)
Of the parks we use a lot, I note that the waterfront bike/pedestrian path (Jericho to the Dog Beach at Spanish banks) is distinctly inferior in maintenance to the equivalent multi-user paths in Metro Vancouver’s Pacific Spirit Park. Right now there are huge pools on the former and much better drainage on the latter. Actually I have to take that back (written a day later. This is Sword Fern Trail near Salish Trail
The loss of use at Jericho Pier, due to climate change, is another example of Parks Board’s lack of readiness to deal with changing circumstances.
They did venture into uncharted territory when they permitted adults to drink alcohol in a park. Of course that was only a trial which, even though it was successful and showed that there were in fact no huge disasters consequent on allowing adults to do what has been legal, is still now forbidden.
But being critical of the present Parks Board is one thing, abolishing the authority is something else. So far as I am aware there is no formal proposal to show how the now separate Board’s activity is to be conducted. Vancouver City Council already has plenty on its plate and a number of very significant issues remain unresolved – housing and illegal drug use being only two of the most prominent. It is not as if councillors had plenty of time on their hands to deal with contentious issues as why concessions in Parks seem to be closed when people actually are looking for those services to be open.
And you have to concede that there have been some remarkable successes in Vancouver Parks. Bard on the Beach and Stanley Park Brewing are just my favourites. The Folk Festival’s return. I’m sure you have your own.
I do not trust Ken Sim. Or ABC. Rebranding the Non-Partisan Association with one more partisan than before does not seem much of recommendation. The continuing non-activity in housing such as unused “temporary” housing or the still under utilised Little Mountain site show a distinct lack of competence at the political level.
And the lack of information on why this is coming up now and what is actually proposed beyond abolition is horribly common to all right wing initiatives I have been saddened by in my career.
Helsinki opens new 25-kilometre light rail Line
Light rail line 15 started operating on October 21. It runs between Itäkeskus in Helsinki and Keilaniemi in Espoo for 25 kilometres and 34 stations enhancing travel between east and west. Unfortunately the Press Release I got and the links I have so far been able to find all showed up as 403 Forbidden. I am hoping that by replying to the email containing the Press Release I will get a link that actually works.
Its opening was a year earlier than originally scheduled. Eleven new bridges have been built and several more have been repaired, with three of these widened. In addition, the project required excavation of a concrete and rock tunnel 300 metres long in Helsinki’s Patterinmäki neighbourhood and the construction of a new tram depot in Helsinki’s Roihupelto district.
The line’s route connects Itäkeskus, Aalto University, and Keilaniemi metro stations, as well as the Oulunkylä, Huopalahti, and Leppävaara railway stations. Over time, the light rail will replace the currently operating trunk bus route 550. According to HSL, route 550 services will be withdrawn by the end of the year.
The average speed of the light rail is higher than that of trams in the Helsinki city center. The light rail will mostly run on a dedicated lane, separated from other traffic and the long straight sections of the track allow the light rail to run at a speed of up to 70 km/h. Therefore it’s notable that light trail track crossings are at street level. (source)
The pictures I have are being rejected by WordPress as too large: moreover I cannot set a featured image either. I am getting very annoyed with the way that WordPress keeps getting “improved” to make it harder to use every time.
But I can state that the LRT trains were built by Skoda
I could also copy all of the Press Release but you can read that here
UPDATE I got a response from the Executive Director of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division
“Cost estimate of this 25 kilometres LRT project was 368 million euros. Final costs are very close to that so we could manage the project so that the costs didn’t grow. However during the construction a number of challenges rose and there definitely were risks to overrun the cost estimate.
According to my opinion maybe the biggest reason why we succeeded in cost management was the project type “alliance” that we chose. Alliance model means that straight from the beginning (1) the public body, (2) planners) and (3) constructors work in shared organization. All the problems are shared and solutions were searched together. If a solution is found, everyone wins. This led to innovations and the projects time schedule shortened so that we could start passenger traffic on our new LRT track 9 months earlier than planned.”
That’s $536m Canadian. Compared to $2.83 Billion for the Broadway Subway’s 5.7-kilometres.
A new approach to longer-lasting, faster-charging batteries
This is a media release that I am simply going to paste in full. It is, I think Good News, and we need as much of that as we can get right now. It is also Canadian.
Researchers from McGill University and Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM) have found a new approach to making inexpensive batteries that can not only hold large amounts of charge but also recharge quickly.
Their work focuses on improving lithium ion batteries, rechargeable cells that are used in electric vehicles, power tools, phones and more.
“The work that we’ve done at the CLS is going to open up the door to be able to make batteries that can be charged faster, which will be one of the ways that we can start implementing them in real use cases as soon as possible,” says McGill researcher Jeremy Dawkins, the lead author of a recent paper on the work published in the journal ChemElectroChem.
To understand how a battery performs, researchers need to see what’s going on inside while it is being used. This is challenging to do in most labs, but the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) offers the bright, intense x-ray light required to peer into a working battery.
Lithium ion batteries can be made of a combination of different materials, which researchers tweak to get the performance they want.
“We want to combine two materials and use the benefits of both of them. So we want to have one material that is capable of fast charging and the other one that is capable of having a huge capacity,” says Bastian Krueger, a UQAM battery researcher.
The researchers produced a battery by mixing a known fast-charging material with a high-capacity one, and experimented with different ways to combine them. The CLS enabled them to image the lithium ions — which act as a bottleneck for fast charging – so that they could monitor the battery chemistry while it was being charged. The team found that a layered, sandwich-like approach worked best.
“What’s particularly interesting about the layered battery we used in this work is that the lithium ion is able to move more efficiently through the cell, which opens up the possibilities to do stuff like fast charging, which is important if you want to, for example, fast charge your cell phone in 5 minutes or charge your car in 10 minutes,” says Dawkins.
Trans Education
This is a copy of an email I received today from Leadnow. Comments are closed. If you require further information scroll down.
| This is a longer email than we normally send you – as part of our response to the anti-trans rallies across the country yesterday, we are sending out some educational resources. If you want to see a list of actions you can take, scroll down to the bottom of the email. When I came out as non-binary to my parents, I did it in person. They did their best to be supportive. But I could also see confusion on their faces – so I wrote them an email later on to explain some things to them about trans people that they just didn’t know. Stephen, I am sending you a similar email now because it’s clear to me that a lot of people are confused about gender, trans people, and what trans kids need. Polling released this week shows that a large majority of Canadians support trans rights, but a majority also oppose some evidence-based health care for trans kids. [1] That gap tells me that there is a broad need for education on gender, trans people, and what it means to show love and care to trans kids. Over the past few months Kate and I have emailed you with actions to oppose right wing attempts to restrict the rights of trans kids and youth. Tens of thousands of you have joined us in calling on government leaders to protect trans rights. But not everyone is there yet, and to build a more safe and inclusive world, all of us need to be able to talk about these issues with our families and communities. Today, I am asking for you to take some time to educate yourself and others in your life by reading this email and sharing what you learn. Every conversation we have is one more person who can become an ally, or more of an ally, to queer and trans people. We need every ally we can get. Being Trans A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is different from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. There are many, many different types of trans people and terms to refer to us – transman, transwoman, non-binary, genderqueer, agender are just a few. You don’t need to know all of them! I am non-binary. For me, that means that I identify as neither a man nor a woman. For more information on gender and trans people: https://www.hrc.org/resources/transgender-and-non-binary-faq Gender Dysphoria Gender Dysphoria is the discomfort and distress that trans people experience when unable to live and be affirmed in their true gender. This can occur when a trans person doesn’t feel like the body they were born with matches who they are inside, when other people treat them as a gender that doesn’t match their identity, or many other reasons. I experience gender dysphoria mostly in how I navigate social norms around gender and how people treat me – I feel sad and uncomfortable wearing traditionally gendered clothing and when people use the wrong pronouns when they talk about me. The best analogy I have is that when someone misgenders me, it feels similarly to having someone ignore me. I feel sad and a drop of energy in my chest. If it happens a lot in a row, I might leave the room. If it’s been happening a lot in a single day, I will sometimes cry for a while the next time I am fully alone. For more information on gender dysphoria: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/illnesses-conditions/sexual-reproductive-health/gender-dysphoria Trans People and Mental Health Mental health challenges from gender dysphoria and discrimination make trans people experience depression and suicidal behaviours at increased rates. [2] But gender affirming care, trans-inclusive practices, and other supports for trans people reduces gender dysphoria, improves mental health, and prevents suicides. When I am able to be my full self – when I can express my gender through clothes and make-up, when people around me show they see me by using my pronouns and non-gendered terms – I feel happy and light. Pronouns As a non-binary person, I don’t feel good using either masculine or feminine pronouns. I use the non-gendered pronouns they/them/theirs. Some people use more than one set of traditional pronouns like she/they, and some people use neo-pronouns like xe/xir. You don’t need to know them all! The important thing is that you don’t assume people’s pronouns, and once you learn someone’s pronouns to use them consistently. If you are having trouble with someone’s pronouns you can ask a friend to remind you when you make a mistake, and try practicing using the correct pronouns out loud when you are alone. Trans youth that are referred to by appropriate names and pronouns experience a 34 per cent drop in suicidal thoughts and a 65 per cent decrease in suicide attempts. [3] This is why it is so important that trans students are able to use the correct pronouns and names at school, regardless of whether or not they have supportive parents. For more information on pronouns: https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/professional-resources/all-children-all-families-pronouns-101 Gender-affirming care Gender-affirming care is a wide range of mental health care, medical care, and social services that supports trans people to live openly and authentically as their true selves. Just like any other form of healthcare, it also helps trans people live safe and healthy lives. Trans youth who access gender-affirming care experience a 60% reduction in depression and 73% reduction in suicide risk. [4] Gender affirming care is always delivered in age-appropriate, evidence-based ways, and decisions to provide care are made in consultation with doctors and parents. There is a broad consensus among doctors, pediatricians, and psychiatrists that gender-affirming care is medically necessary to support people in affirming their gender identity. [5] For more information on gender-affirming care: https://www.hrc.org/resources/get-the-facts-on-gender-affirming-care The far right Harmful far right misinformation is spreading – and it threatens our human rights and access to life-saving healthcare. The movement to target trans kids started in the US, where 568 anti-trans bills have been introduced in US Congress and state legislatures. [6] But now in Canada, the far right is catching up. New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have banned trans students under 16 from using their appropriate name and pronouns in school unless they have permission from their parents. Both provinces are facing constitutional challenges for violating childrens’ human rights. [7] Earlier this month, the Conservative Party of Canada made it their official party policy to ban access to gender affirming health care for trans kids, with 69 per cent of members voting in favour. [8]For more information on the roots of anti-trans organizing: https://juliaserano.medium.com/understanding-the-anti-trans-parent-movement-90d126de1fc9 A loud minority But, anti-trans sentiment is a minority opinion. Polling released this week showed that 64% of Canadians think that increasing acceptance of trans people is a good thing. And 69% said they would support their child if they came out as trans. But the same poll showed a majority of Canadians would oppose trans kids and youth accessing gender-affirming care – despite the evidence being clear that this is what they need. [9] There’s a gap between people who say they support trans rights and those who want to give us the support we actually need. What you can do Transgender people need support from our allies. Here are a few things you can do: Share this Facebook post, Twitter post, or Instagram post to help educate your networksForward this email to someone you know with a note about why you think it is importantRead one or more of the additional resources linked in this emailDonate to a grassroots organization that works to support queer and trans people:QMUNITY (Vancouver): https://qmunity.ca/take-action/donate Gender Generations Project (BC): https://www.gendergenerations.org Trans Equality Society of Alberta (AB): http://www.tesaonline.org/donate.html Trans Sask (SK): https://www.transsask.ca/donate The 519 (Toronto): https://www.the519.org/support-the-519/donate Rainbow Health Ontario (ON): https://www.rainbowhealthontario.ca/donate Momentum Canada (NS): https://www.momentumcanada.net/donate Thanks for all you do, Peter Rose, on behalf of Leadnow Sources: [1] Angus Reid Institute, https://angusreid.org/canada-culture-wars-gender-and-trans-issues/ [2] CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/28/health/transgender-suicide-risk/index.html [3] CBC News, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-premier-ready-to-use-nonwithstanding-clause-to-protect-newschool-pronoun-and-name-rules-1.6966385 [4] HCP, https://www.hcplive.com/view/suicide-risk-reduces-73-transgender-nonbinary-youths-gender-affirming-care [5] Human Rights Campaign, https://www.hrc.org/resources/get-the-facts-on-gender-affirming-care [6] https://translegislation.com/ [7] CTV News, https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/saskatchewan-new-brunswick-naming-changes-means-life-or-death-for-trans-kids-ien-1.6542571 [8] CBC News, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-policy-convention-transgender-1.6961991 [9] See [1] |
| Leadnow doesn’t take handouts from corporations or political parties. Everything we achieve together is only possible because of ordinary people like you chipping in what they can. Please will you consider donating a few bucks a week to Leadnow? Click here to set up a secure donation: http://www.leadnow.ca/donateLeadnow n’accepte aucune aide financière de la part de corporations ou de partis politiques. Tout ce que nous réalisons ensemble est le fruit du travail de gens normaux, comme vous, qui donnent ce qu’ils peuvent. Pourriez-vous donner quelques dollars par semaine à Leadnow? Cliquez ici pour faire un don sur un site sécurisé : http://www.leadnow.ca/donateLeadnow.ca is an independent campaigning community that brings Canadians together to hold government accountable, deepen our democracy and take action for the common good. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. To contact us, you can reply to this email. This message was sent to stephenrees@me.com, because you previously signed on to a Leadnow.ca campaign. If you no longer want to be part of our campaigning community, you can unsubscribe at any time Leadnow.ca – À l’Action est une communauté indépendante qui souhaite réunir les Canadiens afin de demander des comptes au gouvernement, approfondir notre démocratie et passer à l’action pour le bien commun. Suivre sur Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Ce courriel a été envoyé au stephenrees@me.com. Vous pouvez vous désinscrire à tout moment.Leadnow.ca, PO Box 2091, Stn Terminal, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3T2 — 1‑855‑LEADN0W | 1‑855‑532‑3609Unsubscribe |
Is there a “News Blackout” on Social Meadia?
change.org sent me a notice about a petition written by Carmen Scott. I won’t be signing it, mostly because the case she makes is very weak indeed.
Oppose the Restrictions of Bill C-18 states
“Who is impacted? A News Blackout on Social Media:
Every Canadian, from students in Vancouver to retirees in Halifax, is now in the dark. As of June 1, 2023, Meta, the corporate giant behind Facebook and Instagram, has begun phasing out news availability for all its users in Canada. This means that not only will Canadian news outlets no longer have their content visible to their local audience on these platforms, but even international news shared by global publishers will be hidden from the Canadian populace.”
For a start, there are many ways that Canadians can get their news which does not require the use of Facebook or Instagram. Indeed given the general trajectory of Marc Zuckerberg’s intentions many people, and not just Canadians, are leaving these sites and looking for something better. Pretty much the same thing is happening on X the site formerly known as Twitter.
The conventional media still get published every day both on paper and through the internet. It is not actually necessary to use Facebook or Instagram to see what is in the news. You can still buy a paper, listen to the radio, watch tv or use your web browser to see (and hear if needs be) to access both commercial mainstream media as well as a staggering amount of commentary on a wide variety of channels. If you have a library card you can see loads of news sources – Canadian and otherwise – online and completely free.
I gave up on Zuckerberg’s product some time ago. I no longer get regular updates on my niece’s venture “Becky’s Cakes” but I have learned to cope with that. I do have the radio on when I can listen to Classical Music on the CBC (9 am to 3 pm weekdays) which gets interrupted on the hour every hour with a five minute news summary. I can’t say I like Canadian newspapers very much – and Postmedia is not really a reliable source especially for comment or analysis. The Toronto Star has been a bit of an exception but it does not pretend to be a National Newspaper. The Globe and Mail is also very heavily slanted to the right both politically and geographically. And both of the last mentioned have an on-line presence behind their paywalls. CTV also shows up quite a lot as a worthy source of news and information. But CBC news online would be my first choice. ymmv
I support a number of ventures that have been trying to broaden our access to news and commentary. The National Observer, The Tyee, The Maple, The Narwhal continue to show up in my inbox. There’s also The Fraser Valley Current – which has a daily newsletter with links to regional stories, and the Sightline Institute which covers the Pacific Northwest, or maybe you prefer it to be called Cascadia – again a list of useful links to other sources.
So the paragraph that reads “In a digital age where many rely on social media for timely updates, this change cripples our access to news and affects our ability to stay informed” is just hogwash. If you know how to Google there’s lots of news at your fingertips. I would like to mention other search engines but I am afraid that none is quite as effective as G.
But without a doubt federated social media is growing very fast and is easy and free to use. Mastodon has actually been around for quite a while but started getting much more attention once Musk took over Twitter … er … X. I post there using @StephenRees@mas.to and also on Metapixl (which is supposed to be better for pictures and video) @Stephen_Rees
There are some petitions which are pointless. I really doubt that we will ever convince the Iranian mullahs to change their ways, any more than Mr Putin or whatever that Saudi prince is known as. But there are also no doubt well meaning people who are simply ill informed – probably because they still use facebook.
Renewables Competitiveness Accelerates, Despite Cost Inflation
A press release from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
The fossil fuel price crisis has accelerated the competitiveness of renewable power. Around 86 per cent (187 gigawatts) of all the newly commissioned renewable capacity in 2022 had lower costs than fossil fuel-fired electricity.
Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2022, published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) today shows that the renewable power added in 2022 reduced the fuel bill of the electricity sector worldwide. New capacity added since 2000 reduced the electricity sector fuel bill in 2022 by at least USD 520 billion. In non-OECD countries, just the saving over the lifetime of new capacity additions in 2022 will reduce costs by up to USD 580 billion.
In addition to these direct cost savings, there would be substantial economic benefits from reducing CO2 emissions and local air pollutants. Without the deployment of renewables over the last two decades, the economic disruption from the fossil fuel price shock in 2022 would have been much worse and possibly beyond many governments ability to soften with public funding.
IRENA’s new report confirms the critical role that cost-competitive renewables play in addressing today’s energy and climate crises by accelerating the transition in line with the 1.5°C warming limit. Renewables represent vital planks in countries’ efforts to swiftly reduce, and eventually phase out, fossil fuels and limit the macroeconomic damage they cause in pursuit of net-zero emissions.
IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera said: “IRENA sees 2022 as a veritable turning point in the deployment for renewables as its cost-competitiveness has never been greater despite the lingering commodity and equipment cost inflation around the world. The most affected regions by the historic price shock were remarkably resilient, in large part thanks to the massive increase of solar and wind in the last decade.”
“Today, the business case for renewables is compelling, but the world must add 1 000 GW of renewable power annually on average every year until 2030 to keep 1.5°C within reach, more than three times 2022 levels. There is no time for a new energy system to evolve gradually as was the case for fossil fuels. In preparation of the COP28 in Dubai later this year, today’s report shows once again that with renewables, countries have the best climate solution at hand to raise ambition and take actions in a cost-competitive way.”
Commodity and equipment cost inflation in 2022 resulted in countries experiencing markedly different trends in costs in 2022, IRENA’s new report finds. However, at a global level, the weighted-average cost of electricity fell for utility-scale solar PV by 3 per cent, for onshore wind by 5 per cent, for concentrating solar power by 2 per cent, for bioenergy by 13 per cent and for geothermal by 22 per cent.
Only the costs for offshore wind and hydropower increased by 2 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, due to the reduced share of China in offshore wind deployment in 2022 and cost overruns in a number of large hydropower projects.
For the last 13 to 15 years, renewable power generation costs from solar and wind power have been falling. Between 2010 and 2022, solar and wind power became cost-competitive with fossil fuels even without financial support. The global weighted average cost of electricity from solar PV fell by 89 per cent to USD 0.049/kWh, almost one-third less than the cheapest fossil fuel globally. For onshore wind the fall was 69 per cent to USD 0.033/kWh in 2022, slightly less than half that of the cheapest fossil fuel-fired option in 2022.
IRENA’s report concludes that expected high fossil fuel prices will cement the structural shift that has seen renewable power generation become the least cost source of new generation, even undercutting existing fossil fuel generators. Renewables can protect consumers from fossil fuel price shocks, avoid physical supply shortages and enhance energy security.
Read the full report Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2022.
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