dr. david suzuki

We’re Drowning in Seas of Plastic

We’re Drowning in Seas of Plastic

The fossil fuel era must end, or it will spell humanity’s end. The threat isn’t just from pollution and accelerating climate change. Rapid, wasteful exploitation of these valuable resources has also led to a world choked in plastic. Almost all plastics are made from fossil fuels, often by the same companies that produce oil and […]

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    Emergency Order Aims to Protect Resident Orcas

    Emergency Order Aims to Protect Resident Orcas

    Canada is losing a lot of its wildlife. The World Wildlife Fund’s 2017 Living Planet Report Canada found half the monitored mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish species declined from 1970 to 2014. Threatened and endangered species continue to disappear despite federal legislation designed to protect them and help their populations recover. What’s going wrong? […]

    Consumer Society No Longer Serves Our Needs

    Consumer Society No Longer Serves Our Needs

    My parents were born in Vancouver—dad in 1909, mom in 1911—and married during the Great Depression. It was a difficult time that shaped their values and outlook, which they drummed into my sisters and me. “Save some for tomorrow,” they often scolded. “Share; don’t be greedy.” “Help others when they need it because one day […]

    Don’t Blame God or Nature. We’re the Culprits

    Don’t Blame God or Nature. We’re the Culprits

    Traditionally, we’ve labeled events over which we have no influence or control “acts of God” or “natural disasters.” But what’s “natural” about climate-induced disasters today? Scientists call the interval since the Industrial Revolution the “Anthropocene,” a period when our species has become the major factor altering the biological, physical and chemical properties of the planet […]

    David Suzuki: U.S. Climate Report Leaves Little Room for Doubt

    David Suzuki: U.S. Climate Report Leaves Little Room for Doubt

    It seems odd that a major U.S. government climate report released Nov. 3 didn’t receive more media attention. But then, the main thing newsworthy about the Climate Science Special Report is that it was released at all, apparently without political interference. Although the U.S. government is required by law (enacted by President George H.W. Bush […]

    It’s Time to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

    It’s Time to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

    The Canadian government is banning plastic microbeads in toiletries. Although designed to clean us, they’re polluting the environment, putting the health of fish, wildlife and people at risk. Manufacturers and consumers ushered plastic microbeads into the marketplace, but when we learned of their dangers, we moved to phase them out. Why, then, is it taking […]

    Exxon Withholding Climate Knowledge Is an Intergenerational Crime Against Humanity

    Exxon Withholding Climate Knowledge Is an Intergenerational Crime Against Humanity

    Coal, oil and gas are tremendous resources: solar energy absorbed by plants and super-concentrated over millions of years. They’re potent fuels and provide ingredients for valuable products. But the oil boom, spurred by improved drilling technology, came at the wrong time. Profits were (and still are) the priority—rather than finding the best, most efficient uses […]

    David Suzuki: Wildfires Are a Climate Change Wake-Up Call

    David Suzuki: Wildfires Are a Climate Change Wake-Up Call

    Wildfires are sweeping BC. Close to 900 have burned through 600,000 hectares so far this year, blanketing western North America with smoke. Fighting them has cost more than $230 million—and the season is far from over. It’s not just BC. Thousands of people from BC to California have fled homes as fires rage. Greenland is […]

    David Suzuki: Straws Suck

    David Suzuki: Straws Suck

    Of all the plastic products we use and take for granted, plastic drinking straws are among the most unnecessary. Designed to be used once and discarded, their only real purpose is to keep your mouth from touching a glass or ice. It made more sense in the days when contaminated vessels were more of an […]