Bill Pugsley, Ian Whyte and Ted Manning (all past Members CACOR Board of Directors) had an interesting email exchange in one of CACOR’s discussion groups.
Bill posted 2019-02-25:
Here are a couple of posts about using the law and the court to make progress on climate change, especially the last one which reviewed the case for EU countries
” The Liability of European States for Climate Change ” which the Netherlands court decided to uphold the suit against the govt and the one by the now dismissed Env Commissioner for Ontario, Dianne Saxe, who was a vigorous lawyer-blogger on this subject and wrote about the Ontario Env Bill of Rights in this post
Just click on the underlined linked titles
Bill
Who Is Legally Responsible for Climate Change Impacts (and avoiding them)?
Posted on January 31, 2014 by pollutionfree
International Climate Change Liability: A Myth or a Reality? (Jennifer Kilinski, 42 page pdf, J. of Transnational Law & Policy, Spring 2009) Also discussed here: Office of the Auditor General 2012 Annual Report (City of Ottawa, Nov. 28, 2013) And here: The Alaskan village set to disappear under water in a decade (Stephen Sackur, HardTalk, […]
Filed under: Environmental Plans, Standards/Regulations | Tagged: climate, emissions, future, health, standards | Leave a Comment »
Are Pollution Hotspots Legal in Ontario?
Posted on December 8, 2011 by pollution free | Edit
Pollution, hot spots and environmental justice (Dianne Saxe, Environmental Law and Litigation, Dec. 5, 2011 Topping the reviews today is a blog post by a lawyer who examines the potential inconsistency of environmental law, as expressed by the 1993 Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights, when applied to varying levels of air pollution across […]
Filed under: Health Impacts, Standards/Regulations | Tagged: health, pollution, safety, standards | Leave a Comment »
Who is Liable for Damages from Climate Change Impacts?
Posted on February 19, 2015 by pollutionfree
Payback Time? What the Internationalization of Climate Litigation Could Mean for Canadian Oil and Gas Companies (64 page pdf, Andrew Gage and Michael Byers, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Oct. 9, 2014) Also discussed here: Climate change may create legal liability for Canadian energy firms – New report from B.C. think-tanks says elements are in […]
Filed under: Environmental Plans, Standards/Regulations | Tagged: emissions, infrastructure| Leave a Comment »
How Liable are UN Member States for Inaction on Climate Change?
Posted on January 22, 2015 by pollutionfree
The Liability of European States for Climate Change (11 page pdf, R. H. J. Cox, Journal of Planning & Environment Law, Jun. 9. 2014) Also discussed here: Revolution Justified (328 pgs, Roger H.J.Cox, Amazon paperback, Nov. 14, 2012) Today we review a scholarly article that examines the background behind a legal proceeding raised in November 2013 against the […]
IAN’S POSITION ON POLITICAL ACTIVITY
I have great respect for both Bill and Ted and their viewpoints. However, that admitted and said, I see things very differently from them, at least as far as solutions to the Earth’s fatal problems are concerned.
I’ve spent a lot of my life’s spare time, some taken from other activities, working, nearly always with others, within the system, for the Earth. The end result of this fifty year effort, for all of us, is utter, catastrophic, and now, nearly terminal defeat.
Briefly, long ago (in the mid 1960s) I got started by writing my MPs letters about the seal hunt (still ongoing). Over time, I worked with many organizations, wrote hundreds, maybe thousands, of letters, donated to many causes, wrote papers, attended lots of meetings, phoned people, inputted to government, protested here and there, and was arrested once. I was a good boy, and played by the rules, exactly as suggested by Bill and Ted, and, actually, most other members of our society.
Sometimes, we seemed to score a victory; something was protected, which had been fine before, but which had then been threatened by some rapacious group of humans. But, odd as it may seem, these victories turned out to be largely illusory. The human juggernaut rolled either around or over them, sometimes both. (Just for fun, go look at the Google satellite map of Riding Mountain National Park.) In this system it turns out that profit driven looters have a decisive advantage over love driven defenders.
Slowly, I realized, again with the help of others, that we were in effect playing a crooked game with someone else’s lopsided ball, changeable rules, elastic playing field, corrupt umpires, penalties – you name it, it was crooked. It still is, but worse, if possible.
Meantime, everything I love and regard as worthwhile and valuable is taking a shit kicking and is rapidly going or gone. Look at two reports from the trusted organizations of the national and international World Wide Fund for Animals, the WWF. The report for the Planet is dismal: life has diminished by two thirds in the last fifty years. The report for Canada is largely similar. No thinking person needs a list, they already know. The ecosphere is well on the way to collapse. Why, at current rates it might not even wait for the climate to become impossible for us.
Now comes the part I cannot fathom! I’m to write more letters to make more input to the corrupt system? I’m to rely on a petition? I’m to demand loudly, and like last time, vote based on whichever liar lies the loudest? (It was Trudeau last time.) I’m to make plans for personal survival when all else is dying around me?
To me, the Extinction Rebellion seems to offer a graspable thread in an insane world. In one of John Rolston Saul’s books there is a section about power, and what possible hold on it the citizens could have. He concludes that it is only possible through government, a government that the citizens care enough about to take over. (Doesn’t sound like here, does it?) Do you suppose Canadians are finally ready to come out, in their tens of thousands and demand change? IMO nothing else will do it. Perhaps the ER could join with the youth of today and produce something viable.
Ian Whyte
Ottawa
On Mon, 25 Feb 2019 at 12:10, Edward Manning <[email protected]> wrote:
When I was at University I joined a group who lay in front of a bulldozer to stop a road going through a protected forest.
A couple of the protesters ended up with tread marks and several now have criminal records. The road was built a few years later – but with a slightly better design.
I also have friends who have been to most G7(G8) events and own their own gas masks.
Like Bill, I see these as having little effect and easily co-opted by those with other objectives (even if it is only to have a confrontation). . Massive petitions, legal suits, and the establishment of standing for environmental rights, intergenerational rights or health rights are likely to be far more effective. Organizations like Avaaz do have some positive impacts as do organizations like the West Coast Environmental Law group.
Creating a massive petition to call on all parties to make climate change their first priority in the next election could have an impact, as could our effort to show that there are feasible solutions.
To do this we would have to join with many environmental groups and others . Demanding that each party state its position and have a program, and doing it very loudly might work, but the Greens have tried this before.
Ted
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