Author: Peter Blanchard

Founder and coordinator.

America’s assault on life, on freedom

Do you want life, peace, family, freedom?

Every step we take can reduce the greed for oil, the wars, the tyranny, the climate chaos. One pair of walking shoes. One bicycle. One more solar panel. Maybe even one less car, for those who have that choice.

Why is the US attacking Venezuela? Drugs? Socialism? Terrorism? Nope. It’s all about outdated, fossil fuels. More and more of it, never enough.

Why? So they can lead unhappy, consumer-addicted lifestyles? Like spoiled 2-year-olds?

“Waaah, I don’t wanna install solar panels.” “Waaah, I don’t wanna think about climate change”, said Mr. Trump.

You may not have voted for Trump. But if you’re driving that big SUV, if you’re buying things you don’t need, if you’re flying to “get away” — you’re supporting Mr. Trump’s wars and destruction.

But instead of making your kids safer, happier or healthier… you’re only destroying their world.

Each time we press that little gas pedal, we’re helping Mr. Trump wage war on life, on our kids, our communities, and the entire planet.

The good news is that there is a better way. We are surrounded by much better choices for living happy, healthy, sustainable lives. It’s so easy to shift our priorities, our money, to much more sensible choices than Mr. Trump and his cronies.

Please join us as we grow a better world for all. Take action for Peace and Climate — even change careers and do something really pivotal.

“Just possibly it’s the oil”, by Bill McKibbon
https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/just-possibly-its-the-oil

Climate gives us everything we need to live.

It gives us everything that we love, cherish, everything we care about.

To ignore that— or pretend we’re helpless and nothing can be done — is so much less than what we were meant to be.

Even in the darkest moment – especially in the darkest moment – there is hope.

If we take action.

Will you join the team?

Take action on Climate – GoodWork.ca/TakeAction

Jobs, careers, volunteering – GoodWork.ca/Now | Climate Jobs

Fire, smoke, climate breakdown…

Smoke forecast - more smoke all day long

Will we let this be the ‘new normal’?

Scientists around the world say this will become a steamroller, out of control. Unless we take our feet off the gas, choose a better way.

Can we be creative, rise to a challenge?

Or, let force of habit lead us into a dark, downward spiral ?

Are we all standing around waiting for someone else to do something about it?

Or will you step forward, before it’s too late?

What can you do — Take action for climate.

Climate sanity

“An impassioned generational perspective on how to stay sane amid climate disruption.”

Climate and environment-related fears and anxieties are on the rise everywhere. As with any type of stress, eco-anxiety can lead to lead to burnout, avoidance, or a disturbance of daily functioning. 
 
In Generation Dread, Britt Wray seamlessly merges scientific knowledge with emotional insight to show how these intense feelings are a healthy response to the troubled state of the world. 

BOOK LAUNCH — Generation Dread:
Finding Purpose in an age of Climate Crisis

Now available in bookstores, audiobook and e-book… GoodWork.ca/BrittWray

On CBC Radio & Podcast — Thursday May 26

Britt Wray on Generation Dread — On CBC Ideas, Thursday, May 26, 2022
In a world of climate crisis and inaction, the kids are not alright. Neither are many adults, including those considering parenthood. Science writer and scholar Britt Wray was one of the latter when she made a 2018 IDEAS documentary on the topic. Now she is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, specializing in the mental health impacts of the ecological crisis. Her new book details her work and conversations, and synthesizes her insights. It shares productive ways to cope, think, and act while facing an anxious ecological present and uncertain future. At an event recorded at the Toronto Reference Library, Britt Wray talks to Nahlah Ayed about Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis. — CBC Ideas | Schedule (May) | Radio Schedule | Podcast 

“The antidote to anxiety is action”

Climate destruction?!?

Knocking down a forest to sell toys to rich boys?

In the age of climate crisis, how can we still invest in cars, car culture? Voice your indignance, be the change:

Related news:

A home without a furnace?

Talk about climate action!
“the house you can heat with a hair dryer”

“Passive houses” are popping up in Ottawa — proof of a concept that’s taking off worldwide. They are beautiful, comfortable homes. They also happen to use a tiny fraction the energy of conventional homes. They’re affordable — but ready to weather energy hikes and climate change alike.

So why aren’t more people building them? “Home buyers buy the finishings, not the home”, say the builders. In other words, the typical buyer is more likely to be sold on granite countertops, than on a properly built home. When it comes to new homes, we’re colour blind. We continue to build cold little boxes that are becoming nothing less than death traps, in the face of a changing world.

Choosing a passive house:

  • is much more comfortable than other homes
  • is comfortable and resilient in all weather — from deep freezes to heat waves
  • saves money year after year
  • saves energy, year after year
  • reduces ghg emissions
  • is slightly more expensive to build, but pays for itself in energy savings

In many parts of the world, building codes already stipulate that only passive houses can be built.

Will we continue to be distracted by shiny countertops, locking us into a cold, unsustainable future? Or will we wake up and get up with the times?

Passive houses in and near Ottawa:

Resources:

Passive House Canada — national non-profit organization advancing a green building standard in Canada/ “Our mission is to make the International Passive House standard of building performance understood, achievable, and adopted by government, industry, professionals, and homeowners across Canada through education, advocacy, events, and building projects.” passivehousecanada.com

“Comfort is key in a passive house — Passive homes are the height of energy efficiency, but getting average owners to buy in to the extra cost remains a tough sell.” (Ottawa Citizen)

Canadian Green Building Council (many shades of green including Passive House cagbc.org

Green Building and Environmental Jobs