Proved: Greenwash Is Ecoterrorism, Eco-Fascism – and High-Tech, Neo-Feudal “Green” Imperialism Indigenous cultures in the “lithium triangle” of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia are being robbed, subjugated, poisoned and plundered, to make Teslas and cell phones. Corporate-state violence is the continuing norm, in response. Welcome to “Green” Imperialism. Cell phones, tablets,
Continue readingTag: Policy
Things Are Good: Reducing Food Waste by Setting Goals
The best way for a regional government to reduce food waste is to set goals. Previous and common efforts focus on messaging and even in increasing the cost of managing food waste for households. New research shows that simply setting food waste reduction goals is enough and even better than
Continue readingThings Are Good: A New Guide to Science Advocacy
Scientists used to think that sharing the facts and evidence of an issue was enough to sway policy makers and the general public. Unfortunately, with many issues facing us today there are vested interests looking to derail civil discourse around topics like climate change and vaccines. Today Evidence for Democracy
Continue reading52 Ideas: Canada’s and Alberta’s Economic Future depends on our transition to Green Energy by 2035
“He also shared a few bold predictions. Investors, he said, would have to spend $400 billion to realize the Liberal plan, but there would be a net benefit to Canadians of $29 billion by 2050. He also put out on social media a claim by the Canadian Climate Institute that
Continue reading52 Ideas: Grande Cache and UCP coal extraction policy is going to cause more problems than it will solve
Over the next few decades, as we push towards decarbonizing everything, every new project is going to be asked one question: can this good or service that you are offering be done without fossil fuels? This is a question that has permeated many places, but it has not seemed to
Continue reading52 Ideas: Alberta is missing the transition window
When Alberta’s Premier, the Hon. Danielle Smith, gave her election victory speech; she made it clear that she believed that she could protect Alberta’s Oil and Gas industry from the Global Energy Transition. Or as she put it, “We need to come together no matter how we voted to stand
Continue reading52 Ideas: Alberta’s latest economic threat: Thanks to China, Saudi Arabia and Iran are beginning to normalise relations
It might seem odd for an Albertan to point to Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Middle East and say that it has an effect on us. However, it does. History tells us that Alberta’s oil is most desired when another major oil producing country (usually a member of the Organization
Continue reading52 Ideas: Has the Alberta Legislature noticed what the 5th largest economy is doing?
If Albertans want to understand how economically viable our Natural Gas and Oil sector is, all we need to do is look towards California. California has the largest economy in the US. Its economic size is about twice the size of the next largest rival – Texas – and its
Continue readingKen Chapman: ELECTIONS MATTER BECAUSE OF CHOICES AND CHANGES
ELECTIONS ARE TIMES TO TAKE ACTION We are rapidly approaching the May 29th Alberta General Election. Elections are those rare times when political power actually shifts from the elected to the electors. Citizens as electors, can actually make a difference up to and through the election period. This can only
Continue reading52 Ideas: What will Jason Kenney Do?: On the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, the Wet’suwet’en and the Freedom Convoy 2022
Way back in 2020, the Kenney Government passed the “Critical Infrastructure Defence Act” (CIDA). Now, to make a long story short, the CIDA was the Kenney’s Administration reaction to a set of Canada-wide, Indigenous-led protests which were sympathetic to the plight of the Wet’suwet’en People. Back before the COVID pandemic
Continue reading52 Ideas: Bentley is aiming to produce a carbon neutral by 2030
“Our ultimate aim is to create a net climate positive manufacturing footprint by 2030. ‘Business-wide we have a clear environmental mission and the latest figures – showing an 81% absolute reduction in CO2 emissions per vehicle, even though we have widened the scope of the measure to capture more of
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: What side are you on? And are you sure?
I have always been, and always will be, on the side of the anti-fascists and anti-authoritarians. At present, in 2021, that represents about 30% of the people. That may sound like a small minority, until you realize that represents more than 500 million people in the Western world, in North
Continue readingScripturient: Council Considers Possibly Thinking About Maybe Doing Something Important Sometime in the Future
We’re almost two years into an ongoing pandemic, yet all the lessons learned in jurisdictions worldwide about vaccinations and public safety have apparently simply drifted past our inept and gormless council. People are still getting ill and dying even in our own community, but our council is sort-of thinking about
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: If You Are Going To Vote, Read This
Things are changing rapidly in the world, but as of this moment, we can say a few things about the major political parties of the Western world, with reasonable certainty. It is now undeniable, that by their actions, the major parties of the Western world, including the Democratic party of
Continue reading52 Ideas: Calgary Municipal Election Candidates are ignoring the Elephant in the room
If you listen to Jyoti Gondek, Jeromy Farkas or Jeff Davison, you will hear a similar story. In fact, if you listen to most of the mayoral or council candidates, you will hear the same narrative: Calgary’s municipal administration is experiencing a problem of fiscal management and not a revenue
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Reclaiming Democracy In Canada – And Around The World
In the 1960s, there was a cultural awakening which spread rapidly around the world, and Chomsky is right in calling it both a cultural awakening, and also, an outbreak of democracy. The civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, the gay rights movement, the native rights movement, the anti-war and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Rebooting Canada, eh!
Tax the rich. That would be a good start. Close the loopholes, implement capital flight controls, tax financial speculation, tax the richest 1% and the large, profitable corporations, along with the heavy polluting industries, and put a reasonable royalty fee on oil, gas, water and forestry product exports. That would
Continue reading52 Ideas: Alberta’s Dilemma: When do we recognize that the world is changing?
Back in 2015, I started asking a simple question: is Alberta ready? Whenever I talked to politicians or entrepreneurs or thought leaders, I asked that same simple question. I asked that question for one reason: History told me that Alberta’s politicians didn’t understand that the rest of the world was
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Decentralization Or Collapse
To halt the decline of our civilization and stop our race toward ecological, economic and social collapse, we must sow and create a paradigm shift, a shift in the dominant world view, a shift in consciousness. That requires consciousness raising, media activism, and education. But we also need a fundamental
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – John Smith discusses the importance of recognizing and repairing the weaknesses in our social fabric which have been laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic. And George Monbiot discusses how the force of consumerism has warped the way we live. – Rachel Aiello reports
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