Unless you have been living under a rock (or more likely, the cool of your basement), you will know about the weather catastrophe occurring in the West, and, to a slightly lesser degree, in the East. People are dying at an unprecedented rate from the heat, and it is only
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Politics and its Discontents: What Fools These Mortals Be!
We humans are a strange species. Despite access to almost unlimited information and data, far too many prefer to notice only what is front of them at the present moment, simply reacting rather than anticipating and planning. Probably the best illustration of this is the fact that the majority of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: There Is A Lesson Here For All Of Us
While no rational person could fail to see ever-worsening climate change as a major contributor to the Houston flooding, there is a compounding problem, as the following report makes clear. Surely there is a lesson here for all of us. As to how urban engineering can help address this problem,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Climate Change And Cities
This is a time when the credibility of national governments is at an all-time low. In the United States, Donald Trump openly denies climate science. Indeed, he has declared his intention to revive the coal industry and boost fracking, two very dangerous sources of environmental disruption. He is even musing
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Will The Harper Promise Of Tax Breaks Continue To Seduce Canadians?
Recently, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called upon the Harper regime to commit $12 billion annually in infrastructure funding. This request takes on even greater urgency in light of the challenges we are and will be facing as we reap the consequences of climate change. Fiance Minister Joe Oliver’s response: Wynne’s
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Guest Post From The Mound Of Sound
Steve Harper and his chums have transformed cognitive dissonance from an affliction into an art form. Harper’s prime directive, his overarching quest, is to get as much Athabasca bitumen as possible to foreign buyers as quickly as pipelines and tanker ports can be built. Now square that single-minded purpose with
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Progress Or Politics?
If you start the following video at about the 5:30 mark, you will hear a surprising answer from Conservative MP Braid Braid when asked by Evan Solomon if the Harper government believes in climate change. Progress or mere politics? You decide. Recommend this Post
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Brace Yourself
Many Canadian municipalities are starting to come to grips with what climate change will mean to their cities and what they need to do, now, to adapt. This item from TorStar is a pretty graphic depiction of what Toronto is facing even as its beached whale of a first magistrate
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: California Prepares to Meet Climate Change Head On
Reports released this week by the California Energy Commission and the California Natural Resources Agency reveal adaptation measures the state will need to take to address climate change impacts and they’re innovative. State researchers foresee temperature increases of 2.7F over 2000 averages by 2050. Note that’s 2.7F higher than the state
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: What’s Up? Flash Floods, That’s What.
From Britain to Africa, America to China and Russia, India to Canada, no corner of the world seems immune to flash flooding. Is global warming the culprit? In most cases, probably. We done gone and broke the hydrological cycle. How we broke it is as easy to understand as it
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