On November 21, 2002, CEU team lead Seth Klein was invited to be a witness before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research, as part of their study of “International Moonshot Programs.” Here’s his testimony…

By Seth Klein

I had a rather unique, and sometimes stressful, vantage point on the BC NDP leadership contest. Both Dave Eby and Anjali Appadurai are my longtime friends. I’ve known Dave since his early days with Pivot Legal in the Downtown Eastside. Our families have spent holiday time together and have shared in celebrating major life events. I’ve known and worked with Anjali for over 10 years, and we are currently colleagues at the Climate Emergency Unit. I am very fond of them both and want to share a little about what I admire about each of them. And I here I offer some thoughts about what should happen going forward

By Emma Norton

Last Friday, Sept. 23rd, was the fourth anniversary of the first global climate strike. That same day that hurricane Fiona, “the most intense storm on record,” according to Accuweather, made landfall in Nova Scotia, cancelling the climate strike so that everyone could batten down the hatches.

On Sept 21, Seth was invited to testify before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance as part of the committee’s deliberations on fiscal federalism. In a rare opportunity, Seth had a full hour with the committee to share our idea for a new federal transfer and then had a spirited Q&A session with the parliamentarians. Here’s an edited version of what he shared.

By Emma Norton

Want to get people to your event? Give them free hot dogs!

Last week, we held a community BBQ for less than $500 and had over 80 people attend with less than a week’s notice. I hosted the event representing the Climate Emergency Unit, and my friends and colleagues represented each of their respective organizations: Joanna Bull with Ecology Action Centre, Peter Perry with NS General Employees Union, and Melissa Marr with Wonder’neath Art Society.

by Seth Klein

Mandates. Hard to think of a more fraught word these days. And given the pushback against COVID mandates, here’s what’s got me nervous: as we finally get serious about the escalating climate crisis, one truth is abundantly clear — we are going to need climate mandates. One of the central markers is that the government “shifts from voluntary and incentive-based policies to mandatory measures.” The curse of our climate policies to date is that they are mired in a voluntary and incentive-based approach that assumes we can meet this crisis by cajoling enough households and businesses to decarbonize and electrify. This approach will condemn our children to a hellscape. We simply cannot incentivize our way to victory in this fight for our lives. The good news: in the main, most of us support mandates. We want to do right by our family, friends and neighbours.

By Erin Blondeau

“How do you deal with climate grief?”

Last week, I asked the CEU team how they handle climate grief and what people can do during times like this to make a difference. Though concern and climate anxiety fill my heart, it feels like a hollow question… how could I really capture the urgency, the anger, and the tragedy that is being felt by the majority of humans across the world right now as they grapple with extreme heat?

By Erin Blondeau

Marking the first anniversary of Canada’s deadliest weather event is the juxtaposition of BC’s wettest June in a decade. The once-in-a-millennium heat wave of 2021, known as the “heat dome”, killed over 600 people across Western Canada.

This year, a similar heat wave hit Pakistan and India. A report by the United Kingdom’s national weather service states that human activity made the heat wave 100 times more likely; by the year 2100, human-caused extreme temperatures could be 275 times more likely.

By Seth Klein

Our deputy prime minister and federal minister of finance today, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, is the highest profile and most powerful minister in the Trudeau cabinet. The Globe and Mail even dubbed her the “Minister of Everything,” a hat-tip to C.D. Howe’s extraordinary role in Canada’s Second World War cabinet. But pray tell, where is the Minister of Everything on the defining crisis of our time — the climate emergency? More than any other minister, Freeland holds the key levers to truly pivot us into climate emergency mode. If the finance minister really wanted to show us that she understands and is ready to lead on the climate emergency, what would she do? This piece offers a few suggestions.

by Seth Klein

I am a political optimist by nature. I keep wanting to believe our federal government has turned a corner — that it has seen the light on the climate emergency and is ready to shift into high gear. But reality – the federal government’s new Emissions Reduction Plan, the Bay du Nord approval, and Budget 2022 – keeps bursting my bubble.

Canada’s approach to climate is a hot mess of incoherence and contradictions, and it is fundamentally at odds with what the IPCC demands of us. Our country now has an updated emissions plan that will finally start to see our GHGs decline. But the pace and pitch are all wrong. Canada still needs a real climate emergency plan.

By Erin Blondeau

Despite warnings against fossil fuel expansion from world’s top climate scientists and United Nations Secretary General, major deepwater oil project off the east coast of Canada, Bay du Nord, gets green light. But hope is not lost—we the people hold the power, and it’s time to mobilize!

In a time when the world is urged to cease the expansion of fossil fuel projects, the Canadian feds just approved a project with huge implications. Social media has gone crazy with people across the country shaking their heads at the absurdity of this decision.

by Seth Klein

The federal Liberals and NDP have entered into a “supply-and-confidence agreement” (SACA). I am generally a fan of such agreements. Sadly, however, I am much less enthused about the contents of the deal just cemented. As I wrote after the election, “the NDP needs to send a clear message to the Trudeau government — no climate emergency plan, no deal.” Instead, what the NDP managed to secure in this agreement feels weak and vague, especially with respect to the climate crisis. Modelling more cross-party collaboration and co-operation in government is worthy. But we face a climate emergency. And this agreement does not spell out an emergency plan.

By Erin Blondeau

On the heels of the latest IPCC report, Canada is releasing its latest federal climate plan, officially known as the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP). But will it meet the needs of the climate emergency? We can use our emergency markers framework to evaluate it.

By Anthony Garoufalis-Auger

In December, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced he will be holding a national summit on the recovery of the arts and culture sector. Among the topics of discussion will be the critical role of the cultural sector in the fight against climate change.

Multiple initiatives are now emerging around creating a larger role for arts and cultural institutions that both implement greening practices and imagine how culture can help shape the ecological values and norms needed to shift us from hyper-consumerism to environmental stewardship.

On Feb. 14, Seth was invited to testify before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources as part of the committee’s study of a federal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cap for the oil and gas sector. We pride ourselves on being climate leaders, yet we have been highly resistant to tackling our role as global producers of fossil fuels. it is therefore very welcome that the governing party has finally recognized the need for a declining emissions cap on the oil and gas sector. But, in the absence of strong action from the federal government, the trends show little sign of abating. Here’s what Seth shared with the committee…

By Seth Klein

Across North America, jurisdictions are starting to ban gas from new buildings as part of plans to tackle the climate emergency. And that has fossil fuel gas companies very nervous and pushing back. FortisBC, the primary provider of “natural” gas to British Columbia homes and businesses, sensing an impending existential threat to their business plan has a counter-plan. The company’s latest mischief-making? A proposal to the BC Utilities Commission to supply all new homes with 100 per cent “renewable gas” — at no extra cost to these future customers. Wow, sounds fantastic. Well, not so fast. The company’s real end-game here — to get around the new climate regulations of cities like Vancouver and forestall households swapping to electric heat pumps for the sake of the climate.

By Seth Klein

In this piece, Seth once again has some fun writing an imaginary throne speech, this time for the BC government. Here is what a BC throne speech might sound like, if it were to honour Indigenous title and rights, and recognize that we live at a time of multiple interlocking crises — the climate emergency, the pandemic, the housing crisis, a poisonous drug supply crisis, and growing inequality — and resolve to govern accordingly.

Our politics must not be about the art of the narrowly possible, but rather, about making possible what yesterday seemed unimaginable. There is only one way to meet such interlocking crises: Head on. Together. With ambition and defiance, creativity and solidarity. Enjoy.

By Seth Klein

As we seek to confront the climate emergency, retrofitting existing homes and buildings figures centrally in a robust plan. After a process that took about a year, my home is now off fossil fuels. It wasn’t simple or cheap. But it can be done. And in this piece, I share the steps of how my family did it. Some of what we did is specific to B.C., where we live, but much is applicable anywhere. In telling this tale, I’m not trying to virtue signal. Rather, I just want to offer some guidance because people want to know. One of the barriers to climate action is that many of us find it hard to imagine how our homes operate without fossil fuels. So here I offer you a picture of what that can look like.

by Seth Klein

When it comes to the climate emergency, this is the period of our awkward interregnum. Our political leaders are, for the most part, still in denial. Not about the reality of human-induced climate change, but about what confronting it actually requires. Emergencies and disasters can bring out the worst in us. But often they bring out our best. Both have been on display this week in my province of British Columbia. We have seen some anti-social behaviour. But we have also witnessed some remarkable displays of mutual aid and solidarity. As distressing and disruptive as this period may be, make no mistake — the terrain is shifting.

[Note to readers: The following is a work of fiction.]

Honourable Senators, Members of the House of Commons, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Just over a week ago, the world gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, for the 26th United Nations conference on climate change. Progress was made. The world is starting to mobilize. National commitments, including Canada’s, to reduce greenhouse gases got us closer to keeping global temperature rise to a safe level.

But not close enough. Not by a long shot. More and faster action is needed.

This past summer has been a wake-up call for us all.