If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!

David Suzuki, one of my most favorite people on this planet, was in town a few days ago on a book tour for the his most recent release 'the autobiography' and of course I wasn't going to miss it...even if it was way down in the wretched South end of the city.

He mostly summarized his autobiography while a slideshow and video clips played throughout the hour and a half presentation. The highlight of his talk, though, was when he spoke of the 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil and how his twelve year old daughter, Severn, desperately wanted to attend with ECO - Environmental Children's Organization - she and a few friends formed in the 5th grade. They ended up raising $14,000 and flew to Brazil to set up their booth. Severn even said a speech at the conference which David had on video and showed to us. It sent chills down my spine watching this twelve year old girl express her extreme concern for our planet and all species on it while giving those policy-makers a piece of her mind. Fourteen years ago.

Here is a link in case you're interested in reading her speech. I highly recommend you do.

http://www.sfsf.com.au/econews/econews_story_severin_suziki.htm

Global Warming at a Theater Near You

The threat of global warming has finally burst into the public's consciousness with last year's category 5 hurricanes and a steady stream of scientific studies about the alarming disappearance of Arctic sea ice.

Now we're about to get another wake-up call: a riveting documentary called "An Inconvenient Truth," which features Al Gore's acclaimed presentation about the here-and-now realities of global warming. I've seen Al's presentation and I can tell you it's well worth the price of admission. It has enthralled audiences around the world and inspired them to demand change.

NRDC has been fighting for more than a decade to win forward-looking policies that can defuse the global warming crisis. But we need this film and many more like it to alert America to the stark choice now facing us: our government can avert a global warming catastrophe by taking action right now, or condemn our children to a future of drought, disease, floods and lost ecosystems.

"An Inconvenient Truth" opens in New York and Los Angeles on May 24 and nationwide in June. You can watch a trailer of the film and find a theater near you where it will be playing by going to this link: http://www.climatecrisis.net I hope you'll see it and spread the word.

Frances Beinecke President, Natural Resources Defense Council

* PLAYING IN OTTAWA JUNE 9~18 @ the BYTOWNE !! *

Mad About Lack of Environmental Action

Mad about lack of environmental action, David Suzuki
May 10, 2006

The longer I spend on my book tour, the more I'm convinced that Canadians are really starting to get angry about environmental issues.

They aren't just upset because there are so many issues in the news right now, but because it doesn't seem as if anyone's doing anything about them. The problems just keep coming up: polar bears drowning due to melting ice, bird species disappearing because their habitat is being destroyed, persistent pollutants accumulating in the food chain, and the list goes on. But where are the solutions?

Here we have a concerned public, who want to do their part to help, but they are becoming increasingly frustrated by what they see is a lack of action on the part of their leaders. Meanwhile, leaders are responding with ...a lack of action.

Case in point - the recent federal budget. Here was an opportunity for Mr. Harper to lay the groundwork for how his government could rescue Canada's floundering environmental record. It was a chance to put to rest concerns that he couldn't care less about the environment by doing something bold and ambitious. One of Mr. Harper's heroes, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney did just that with the Green Plan that helped make him Canada's "greenest" prime minister.

Yet, the prime minister did nothing. The environment is barely touched on in the 600-plus-page budget document. And climate change, perhaps the most pressing environmental issue facing the world today, one that is expected to have profound repercussions for our economy and quality of life, doesn't even rate a mention. This, in spite of the fact that Mr. Harper has been dismantling pretty much every single piece of the previous government's climate change plan.

The Liberals took eight years after signing Kyoto to come up with a plan, which is why Canada's emissions are so high today. But at least we finally had a plan. Now Canada has nothing. Instead, we have vague promises about a "made-in-Canada" solution - a meaningless phrase if there ever was one. The previous plan was, of course, made in Canada too. Mr. Harper is simply playing politics of the disingenuous kind he always said the Liberals did. Now, he's proving himself the master.

This kind of partisan nonsense is exactly what is getting under the skin of Canadians. It simply isn't helpful. They have burning questions that demand answers: Why do cars still burn so much gas? Why can't I buy a home that uses less energy? Why do small things come in such big, wasteful packages? Why doesn't more electricity come from clean sources, like wind?

In other words, they want to know why it's so hard for them to make the least damaging, most socially and environmentally aware consumer choices. The answer is simple - because governments aren't doing their jobs. Instead of showing courage, they cower. Instead of being leaders, they pass the buck. And instead of acting in the best long-term interests of their constituents and their country, they pander to the lower common denominator with a smile and a wave.

Of course, there are exceptions. Some provinces and many municipalities are truly showing environmental leadership. But it seems the further you go up the political food chain, the weaker the political resolve. This doesn't have to be the case, but it's the hand we've dealt for ourselves.

I hate to say it, but we got ourselves into this mess. If Canadians really want action on the environment, we have to demand it from our leaders. And if our leaders fail, we have to throw the bums out.

Best Co-Workers of All Time

This isn't exactly environment-related but it's totally worthy of a blog.

I bought a brand new bicycle last August and as some of you already know, it was stolen a couple of weeks ago.

I was sitting at home on a drizzly Sunday evening when it occurred to me that I should probably bring in my bicycle and lock it up in the basement since I wouldn't be using it anytime soon with all the rain predicted in the forecast. I usually kept it locked up against the fence outside my building when I was using it regularly. Being too lazy, I decided to put it off until the next day. Monday morning I walked right past and didn't even notice it was missing. I only found out when my friend/neighbor emailed me about it as she noticed my severed lock dangling from the fence on her way to work. Damn thieves.

Of course at work I told my co-workers all about this and they all felt sorry for me but what can you do? Bikes get stolen all the time. Soonafter, my friend ran into a decent bike at a second hand store for $15 and decided to buy it for me. It's a super cute bike. Having told a few people at work about this purchase, one of my co-workers approached me and told me that my co-workers had already pitched in money towards getting me a new bicycle! So this afternoon, I went to pick it out. It's very similar to my last bike - but better. It cost $400! They also got me a super duper dual lock. It is truly the nicest and most generous thing anyone has ever done for me and I am so honored to work with such amazing people. I am definitely not letting it out of my sight this time.

So now, I have two bicycles! Hah, screw you, thieving bastards.