Friday, January 24, 2014

At Louis Enfield's cabin, Vavenby, BC – Walk 1987

 Here I am on the first day of my walk in the spring of 1987. Although you can't see it, I'm standing in front of a cabin on Moilliets' sheep ranch near Vavenby, B.C. (the structure you can see is a corner of the woodshed). I lived in the cabin for several years in the late 1970s. It was built by Swiss fellow named Louis Enfield, who I never met.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Thistle emerging through pavement


As I recall, I took this photo near Borden Bridge in Saskatchewan during my walk in 1987. To me, it carries meaning regarding the power of life to overcome obstacles
Here's a comment I just posted on Care2 in response to an article about the Trans-Pacific Partnership:
 

The Trans-Pacific Partnership appears to be another example of globalization being done for the benefit of the 1% and only incidentally for the rest of us. We - meaning the people of the world - need to get more control over our international institutions. That means more democracy - direct democracy on an international scale.

Climate scientist James Hansen has proposed a global carbon tax with the proceeds to be distributed to everybody (he calls it fee-and-dividend). I have posted a petition on Care2 that calls for a worldwide referendum on a global carbon tax based on Hansen's proposal.

You can view the petition (and hopefully put your name on it) at www.thepetitionsite.com/286/384/042/petition-for-a-referendum-on-a-global-carbon-tax/www.thepetitionsite.com/286/384/042/petition-for-a-referendum-on-a-global-carbon-tax/

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Feasible vs. expedient

We need to be careful when we use the word "feasible" that we don't confuse it with "expedient". The opposition is strongest around the fee-and-dividend approach proposed by James Hansen precisely because it is by far the best approach that would make a meaningful difference in our society's wasteful use of fossil fuels. Fee-and-dividend is the most practical approach, but it will not be easy or convenient.

Once again, I have posted a petition on Care2 that calls for a global carbon tax based on Hansen's fee-and-divident proposal. You can view it (and hopefully put your name on it) at www.thepetitionsite.com/286/384/042/petition-for-a-referendum-on-a-global-carbon-tax/

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Camping out while walking across Manitoba, 1987


Note the bare feet. It seems to me that I put my camera with its timer set on top of my overturned cooking pot to take the photo

Sulphur dioxide safety net wouldn't work

Gwynne Dyer has posted a column talking about how work by researchers at Reading University have shown that trying to control global warming by injecting sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere would lead to a 30 percent decline in rainfall in most of the tropics.

While we might need geo-engineering techniques as stopgap measures, we are extremely unlikely to achieve anything without addressing the root of the problem. Climate scientist James Hansen has called for a global carbon tax with the proceeds to be distributed to all, a proposal he calls fee-and-dividend. I have posted a petition based on his proposal on Care2. You can view the petition (and hopefully put your name on it) at www.thepetitionsite.com/286/384/042/petition-for-a-referendum-on-a-global-carbon-tax/