All posts by Rochelle Baker

Rochelle Baker is a staff reporter with Canada’s National Observer, thanks thanks to a grant from the Local Journalism Initiative of the Government of Canada. She previously worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer in BC’s Lower Mainland for over 7 years.
Energy

Is tidal energy the surge remote coastal communities need?

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National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Many remote West Coast communities rely on diesel for electricity generation, which poses a range of negative economic, social, and environmental effects.

But some sites along B.C.’s extensive coastline are ideal for tidal energy micro-grids that may well be the answer for off-grid communities to generate clean power, suggested experts at a COAST (Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies) virtual event Wednesday.

Continue reading Is tidal energy the surge remote coastal communities need? →
Arts

Ruth Ozeki explores loss, love and our insatiable relationship with things

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 National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Benny hears things and Annabelle hoards them. 

In her latest novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness, award-winning novelist Ruth Ozeki bears witness as a teenage boy and his mother, Benny and Annabel Oh, process their grief after Kenji — a kind, jazz-loving, pot-smoking clarinetist father and husband — suffers the ignoble death of being run over by a chicken truck in a grungy back alley.

Continue reading Ruth Ozeki explores loss, love and our insatiable relationship with things →
Environment

Preventing biodiversity collapse critical to COP26 climate goals, say world leaders

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 National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In the run-up to the UN’s crucial climate conference at month’s end, global leaders have laid the foundation for an international framework to protect nature and halt the collapse of biodiversity worldwide while also curbing global warming and protecting human health.

More than 100 nations committed to the Kunming Declaration on Wednesday, a promise to put the natural world on a path to recovery by 2030.

Continue reading Preventing biodiversity collapse critical to COP26 climate goals, say world leaders →
Forests

Star Trek captain chides B.C. premier over old-growth forests

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 National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

B.C. Premier John Horgan, a self-proclaimed Star Trek fan, has disappointed a high-ranking member of the federation who is calling for action to protect the province’s old-growth forests. 

Canadian actor William Shatner, who famously played Capt. James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series, is one of more than 200 celebrities, scientists, artists, and Indigenous and political leaders who have joined a campaign to pressure the NDP government to protect B.C.’s irreplaceable and iconic tall trees. 

Continue reading Star Trek captain chides B.C. premier over old-growth forests →
Environment

‘We know it’s possible’: Severn Cullis-Suzuki sees road map for climate response in Canada

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 National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Environment and culture activist Severn Cullis-Suzuki is taking up the reins as executive director at the renowned environmental organization — the David Suzuki Foundation — just as the globe reaches the critical juncture for action to stem the worst outcomes of the climate emergency.

Continue reading ‘We know it’s possible’: Severn Cullis-Suzuki sees road map for climate response in Canada →