Climate Change

Donald Trump is a creep and unpleasant to look at, but at least he’s not a stunning hypocrite when it comes to climate change

Donald Trump is so spectacularly horrible that it’s hard to look away – especially now that he’s discovered bombs. But precisely because everyone’s staring gape-mouthed in his direction, other world leaders are able to get away with almost anything. Don’t believe me? Look one country north, at Justin Trudeau.

UXBRIDGE, Canada (IPS) - The world's last remaining forest wilderness is rapidly being lost -- and much of this is taking place in Canada, not in Brazil or Indonesia where deforestation has so far made the headlines.

A new satellite study reveals that since 2000 more than 104 million hectares of forests -- an area three times the size of Germany -- have been destroyed or degraded.

 "Every four seconds, an area of the size of a football (soccer) field is lost," said Christoph Thies of Greenpeace International.

The hard right U.S. administration of Donald Trump has widened the terrain of struggle over climate change and, indeed, the entire array of environmental issues facing the ecology of North America and the working class movement. Climate change deniers, big oil executives, and finance capitalists now occupy pivotal positions in an array of state agencies and apparatuses directly impacting these portfolios.

WASHINGTON – It was difficult for speakers at the March For Science here Saturday, Earth Day, to follow the organizers’ instructions not to attack the Trump administration, but just to “celebrate the role of science.”

Denis Hayes, founder of Earth Day, was one speaker who ignored the official guidelines. The Trump White House, he said, “reeks of greed and sleaze and mendacity.”

Canada, and not just Mexico, may be in for a rough ride when it renegotiates NAFTA with the United States. A draft letter from the U.S. Trade Representative to Congress outlining renegotiation objectives, which was leaked on March 30, reveals that the U.S. agenda goes far beyond the modest tweaking implied earlier by President Trump.

When it comes to fighting climate change, however, the ride will be rougher. Trade provisions will likely continue to be a stumbling block in any efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Americans reject terminals, so Montana’s coal heads to Asia through the Lower Mainland.

If you’ve ever been to the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen, you’ve seen them. The big, black piles of coal framed against the mountains as you drive down the causeway. But not all coal is created equal.

One day the train crawling past beachgoers and tourists might be from Teck’s Elkview mine in the Kootenays. Its load of metallurgical coal will sail away on a bulk carrier, perhaps to a steel foundry in Seoul.

• The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere continues to accelerate upwards despite global efforts
• The last two years had "unprecedented" increases
• Canadian CO2 extraction is playing an oversized role

The primary driver of global warming, disruptive climate changes and ocean acidification is the ever-increasing amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

March 25, 2017 — Alexandre Araujo Costa, a Brazilian ecology activist, spoke to Belgian ecology writer and activist Daniel Tanuro on a range of questions concerning ecology and ecosocialism.

[Editor: Climate change is already affecting populations to the point of migration, (see http://www.ecosocialistsvancouver.org/article/why-we-climate-activists-s...), so more immigrants can be expected and in turn we can expect more activity from racist anti-immigrant groups]

[See original for video of police clashing with Soldiers of Odin at Vancouver anti racism march]