Environmentalists have become acutely concerned about the physical state of our planet, but a related concern should be the psychological state that we occupy as human beings living in a milieu of digital information. This is an issue that has recently entered prominence because of a number of factors: the propaganda justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the possible meddling of China and Russia in American and Canadian elections, and the pervasive effects of social media on the attitudes and behaviour of people who are exposed to and influenced by it. We can’t solve any problem, environmental or otherwise, if we are not connected to reality.
Continue reading The Quadra Project – Social Media P 4 of 4Tag Archives: China
Canada’s eastern Rockies risk becoming a carbon bomb
By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Oil, gas and coal extraction projects located in Canadian protected areas could unleash a potential 2.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a global analysis found.
Alberta’s iconic coal-bearing Rocky Mountains are among the nearly 800 protected areas under threat of fossil fuel development worldwide, according to the analysis by LINGO, a.k.a. the Leave It In the Ground Initiative. The Germany-based non-profit’s stated mission is to “leave fossil fuels in the ground and learn to live without them,” and accelerate the world’s transformation to 100 per cent renewable energy. The research was done in collaboration with Oil Change International.
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Shannon Behan, Principal, Westview Elementary School: Life-long learning makes leaders
By Isabelle Southcott, originally published on qathet Living
Every weekday morning starting in 2019, Shannon Behan woke up at 4 am to work on her PhD. At 6 am, she’d get ready for her day as Principal of Westview Elementary School. Then, she would spend two hours every evening and all day Saturday and Sunday researching and writing for her degree.
“I took breaks to go running, though,” she smiled.
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Ethnic media provides added perspectives on “Freedom Convoy”
By Fernando Arce, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Over the last week, from Feb 3. to 10, various ethnic media outlets offered a wider range of perspectives on three hot-button issues that have dominated mainstream headlines.
From the so-called Freedom Convoy, to Erin O’Toole’s ousting as leader of the Conservative Party, to the Black History Month, ethnic media provided coverage that went beyond the usual suspects interviewed by the mainstream.
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Parliamentary Budget Officer says fossil fuel tax breaks costing Canada $billions
By John Woodside, National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A report published this week by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) finds Ottawa’s tax breaks to the fossil fuel sector are leaving nearly $2 billion on the table each year in lost revenue.
The report comes at the request of Sen. Rosa Galvez, who asked the PBO to estimate the cost of deductions related to fossil fuel development. Specifically, it found that from 2015 to 2019, tax deductions related to fossil fuel exploration, development, property expenses and other measures averaged $1.8 billion annually. The low year was 2016 with approximately $1.3 billion worth of tax deducted, but since then, the amount has escalated to nearly $2.4 billion in 2019, the most recent figures available using T2 corporate tax data.
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