February 18, 2010
Could farm-friendly ‘biochar’ suck up a fifth of the world’s carbon emissions?
The Claim Proponents believe that biochar—a fine charcoal produced when biomass is burned without oxygen—could dramatically cut our carbon emissions while improving soil productivity. The Investigation Here’s how it works: When organic matter decomposes, it releases carbon back into the atmosphere. This naturally occurring breakdown contributes a whopping 220 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide to... [More >>]
February 11, 2010
Four world records Canada should be ashamed to hold
Google Earth detail showing part of the Athabasca tar sands mining operation. The tar sands is both the most carbon- and capital-intensive project on earth. Photo via Flickr user Skytruth. Nothing brings out patriotic pride like the Olympics. But before we get busy reading about gold medals and new heights of athletic glory, let’s take a few moments to reflect on a few shameful Canadian records that... [More >>]
October 27, 2009
Interview: Power to Save the World author Gwyneth Cravens
She changed her mind about nuclear power—and she wants to change yours, too Gwyneth Cravens. Illustration by David Anderson. Novelist, journalist, and former anti-nuclear activist Gwyneth Cravens spent 10 years researching and writing Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy. She tells us why she now favours nuclear. This: How did you become an advocate for nuclear power? Cravens:... [More >>]
September 29, 2009
Postcard from London: On climate change, new message is “Blame Canada”
Protesters demonstrating Canada's tar sands development outside the Canadian High Commission in London. Photo by Zoe Cormier. I was pretty sure I knew what the Canadian flag, held upside down, was supposed to represent. But I had to ask anyway. Last Monday afternoon, standing outside the Houses of Parliament in London in Parliament square, I held my cell phone aloft with a hundred other protesters,... [More >>]
September 1, 2009
Hostile takeover: Canada’s outsourced war for Iraq’s oil riches
Think we never went to Iraq? Think again. In March 2008, when the invasion of Iraq by George W. Bush’s “coalition of the willing” marked its fifth anniversary, Canadian media outlets were in a self-congratulatory mood: “Canada isn’t involved” there, one reporter wrote. “The further we get away from the actual date, the better Canada’s decision to not get involved with the U.S. invasion... [More >>]
December 1, 2000
This Land Is Whose Land?
On the surface, Victor Buffalo v. The Queen is a dispute over mismanaged oil money—$1.38 billion of it, to be exact. But the deeper questions raised by the case could spark a full-on legal war across Canada, topping $190 billion in claims and changing the face of Canadian government/aboriginal relations forever I’m sitting in a Calgary courtroom looking on with disbelief at what is happening.... [More >>]
