Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Comments on David Suzuki

I've had one reader talk a little about David Suzuki's talk here in Kamloops. I did hear that our Mayor, Mr. Lake, was getting the gears on Sunday.

It would be great to hear a little about that and what City Council's role and responsibility should be on the issue of the environment.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

David Suzuki

I didn't get to see David Suzuki today here in Kamloops. So if anyone out there would like to leave a comment about how it went and what he had to say, that would be great.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

The Winter Embarrassment

I'm embarrassed to say that after all of the hoopla over winning the International Communities in Bloom award, our city looks and smells like this...and the worst part is David Suzuki is going to be here tomorrow to see it...

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Follow up to Today's Rex Murphy Show

I was really glad to hear Rex tackle the topic of global warming and what we are willing to do about it.

Towards the end of the show, he was talking to a guest whose name I didn't catch. But I do remember that I was quite disturbed by something he said. It went something like this...

As world leaders (the Western governments), we are responsible for leading the way in reversing the effects of global warming and cleaning up.

I'm not sure if this next part was said or if it was alluded to, but it went something like this...

We can't expect countries like China and India to do this.

This very ethnocentric view is what has gotten us into losing situations like Iraq and Afghanastan. I guess situations where we think we know best, and those who don't agree are savages that need to be taught a lesson.

This speaker also failed to mention that while India and China are huge contributors to this environmental problem, we are the ones who started it.

Our demand for bigger, cheaper, faster has led to mass industry in these countries. Countries where labour and materials are much cheaper than they are here in the west.

We've also created the American dream...the big house, big car, a boat...etc....This is something that people have died trying to acquire...and thus the need for more manufacturing and bigger stores...What the rest of the world doesn't realize is that without the constant, compulsive consumerism, there is actually nothing of substance there.

All of this has led to other very pertinent social issues such as obesity. If you look at other countries, the incidence of obesity is far less than it is here in North America. having travelled to many different countries, I have see that with the invasion of junk food and fast food, obesity is on the rise. All for what, to live the so-called American dream.

Yes, there need to be leaders in eradicating global warming. We can't rely on the governments of the world to do this. Nor can we rely on the west. As inhabitants of planet Earth, we need to take responsibility for this very large problem and act now.

Rex Murphy

Today Sunday February 4, 2007 from 1:00-3:00 (PST) on CBC, Rex Murphy is discussing the personal cost of decreasing global warming. I'm sure I'll post about the show. In the meantime, I'm listening and hope you will too.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Two Evils

This past year, I started shopping at Nature's Fare in Kamloops. Some of their prices are a bit higher, but I like the quality of their products. A lot of what I buy is organic - soups, biscuits, cookies...Organic is good for the environment and better for our bodies. The issue I have is the packaging. Chips, biscuits, cookies and such have a lot more packaging than conventional products of a similar type. Typically, there will be one or two cookies in foil or plastic packaging; all of these will be in a plastic tray; all of this will then be held together by a box or plastic wrap. So, we are doing something good for ourselves and supposedly for the environment. But ultimately, we are hurting our environment with all of the wrap that gets thrown away. I'm still trying to figure out which is the worse of the two evils.

Friday, February 02, 2007

Global Warming

This morning a report was released discussing the dire consequences of using fossil fuel. Now Green Peace is after Ottawa and our government to start rectifying this condition. The way it was expressed on Global was that without the leadership of our governments, there was little we could do.

Just because we vote for a complacent government, doesn't mean that we also have to be complacent. Perhaps it is because of complacency that we end up with a complacent government.

I don't know that things would be all that different with a different government (I believe that bureaucracy beats all of the best intentions down).

Individually, we can do so much and reverse the effects of our negligence. When I hear about young children who raise money and build wells in Africa, I know that we can fix this problem. It is time to wake up and take some responsibility for the condition of our Earth. Let's clean up, recycle, share, walk...whatever it takes.