Category Archives: Sustainability

Author Niki Jabbour Answers 25 Questions

By Richard | Published February 5, 2012

I’m not sure why it’s always been there, but I have a soft, quiet spot in my heart for gardeners. And lately, for this gardener in particular. We’re friends. But, surprisingly, Niki Jabbour and I have never met. Niki and I both wrote for The Halifax Daily News in the 1990s, where I was a [...]

Also posted in 25 Questions, Author, Author, Books, Canada, Food & Wine, Global Warming, Life, Nova Scotia | 5 Comments

Author Chris Benjamin Answers 25 Questions

By Richard | Published October 4, 2011

Even though he’s much younger, I want to be like Chris Benjamin when I grow up. He’s the respected Sustainable City columnist at The Coast, Halifax’s progressive weekly, and I delight in watching him skewer the ecologically inept even as he finds the heart of the matter in issues that are pressing for the planet and [...]

Also posted in 25 Questions, Author, Author, Books, Canada, Global Warming, Nova Scotia | 2 Comments

Stephen Harper’s Greatest Hits

By Richard | Published April 12, 2011

Canadian polls consistently show that Canadians believe that Stephen Harper is a strong leader. Based on what? The fact that he’s always on message, and he managed to reduce the GST by two cents, when most economists were suggesting it was a very bad idea? Our policy in Afghanistan? His promise to spend $10+ billion on new jails? [...]

Also posted in Anything But Conservative, Canada, Politics | 3 Comments

The Global Warming Denial Machine

By Richard | Published March 2, 2011

Let’s begin with the preliminaries. The first is that global warming isn’t a scientific theory, it’s a scientific fact. The time for debate has ended. We can still argue over tipping points and the minutia — like when the arctic will become ice free during the summer months, or how much world sea levels will [...]

Also posted in Global Warming, High Horse, Social Justice | 2 Comments

Teaching Evolution Badly in American Classrooms

By Richard | Published February 27, 2011

When it comes to scientific fact versus scientific theory, many people are confused. Occasionally, the terms can be applied to the same principle. Evolution is both a theory and a fact. Over the last few centuries, the evidence supporting evolution as the mechanism for the origin of species has become so overwhelming and so incontrovertible [...]

Also posted in Global Warming, High Horse, Religion | 1 Comment

Author Silver Donald Cameron — 25 Questions

By Richard | Published January 27, 2011

I remember the first time I met Silver Donald Cameron because I was scared to death. I had no good reason to be, really. Canadian authors, as a group, have always impressed me with their warmth and kindness. But as a novice feature writer at The Daily News, I felt pressure when writing about such [...]

Also posted in 25 Questions, Author, Author, Books, Canada | 1 Comment

May All Be Fed

By Richard | Published June 24, 2010

It’s funny. I learned more about ethics and social justice in a biology class than any dozen religious sermons that I can remember. Most people are surprised to discover — as I did during an undergraduate lecture — that we can take dramatic steps towards feeding the world’s poor, and it has little to do [...]

Also posted in Global Warming, High Horse, Social Justice | 3 Comments

Yours Truly, BP

By Richard | Published June 9, 2010

From the National Resources Defense Council.

Also posted in Global Warming, Social Justice | 3 Comments

The Roots of Violence:

By Richard | Published May 27, 2010

The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles. — Mahatma Gandhi

Also posted in Politics, Social Justice | Leave a comment

I Want Some of Whatever Sarah Palin Is Smoking

By Richard | Published May 24, 2010

Commenting on the Gulf debacle, former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin seems to have forgetten her “Drill, Baby, Drill” cheerleading of 2008, or that some circumstantial evidence has implicated Dick Darth Cheney for a potential role in this horrible crime against nature. Palin seems to have forgotten that her husband worked for British Petroleum for 18 [...]

Also posted in Politics | 2 Comments