Greenspiration News & Events: Democracy

Tue Feb 18 16:05:50 UTC 2025

INTERNATIONAL

Democracy by Margaret Atwood - 6 min. video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFkxJSCzjcw

Are We Sleepwalking into Autocracy? Trump Embraces Authoritarian Playbook of Hungary’s Orbán

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/12/kim_scheppele_autocracy_trump_musk

100% Renewable (and without miracles)

According to Mark Jacobson, from Stanford University, we already have 97% of the necessary technologies. And we don’t need gas, nuclear, CCS, or other false solutions

https://www.rinnovabili.net/business/energy/100-renewable-mark-jacobson-explains-the-transition-without-miracles/

Texas Moves on Renewables While Alberta’s Oil Ties Hold Firm

Energy storage and renewables are expanding rapidly in Texas’s free-market system, building resilience, lowering costs, and drawing comparisons with Alberta

https://www.theenergymix.com/texas-moves-on-renewables-while-albertas-oil-ties-hold-firm/

A 'body blow' for climate research: Trump pauses NOAA collaboration with 'foreign nationals' 

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2025/02/07/news/body-blow-climate-research-trump-noaa-collaboration-foreign-nationals  

Putin’s Drone Hit on Chernobyl Today Sends Us All an Atomic Message

This terrifying strike sends the world a clear message: in the age of drone warfare, any “Peaceful Atom” plant can be turned into a radioactive apocalypse at any time. 

https://freepress.org/article/putin%E2%80%99s-drone-hit-chernobyl-today-sends-us-all-atomic-message

A Nuclear Future is Not Inevitable

The marriage between Big Tech and nuclear power endangers us all.

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/nuclear-power-amazon-microsoft-trump-biden-slattery-ai

A slew of mad nuclear plans

Israel intends to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities (again). Japan will "maximize" its use of nuclear power and plans to have 30 reactors back running by 2040. A mad scientist thinks we should detonate an 81 gigaton nuclear bomb in the seabed to shatter basalt to enhance carbon sequestration. The US could resume atmospheric atomic testing. And an armed drone hit the destroyed Chornobyl Unit 4 reactor. Could things get any worse? 

https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/02/16/no-comedic-caper/

Nuclear Risks: A Conversation with Dr. Gordon Edwards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGPOaRalFZA

Bowing to the Butcher: Trump Grovels to Putin and Promises to Abandon Ukraine - by Thom Hartmann

https://substack.com/home/post/p-157035559

Jake Broe - analyst and video blogger on Russia's imperialist war on Ukraine 

https://www.youtube.com/@JakeBroe

CANADA

Pierre Poilievre’s Lead Was Supposed to Be Unshakable. It Isn’t

Polls suggest Mark Carney is reshaping the electoral landscape

https://thewalrus.ca/pierre-poilievres-lead-was-supposed-to-be-unshakable-it-isnt/ 

Liberal leadership hopeful Mark Carney on how he'd change Canada's carbon tax

Interviewed by CBC's Rosemary Barto (16 minutes)

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6651113

The Online Warriors Calling for a Violent Invasion of Canada

As Canadian sovereignty is undermined and an election approaches, politicians are calling for an investigation of X.

https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/02/12/Online-Warriors-Violent-Invasion-Canada/

Why Canada’s Oil Sands Aren’t Coming Back

I used to be an oil executive. Here’s how market forces, not politics, killed the oil boom—and why new pipelines won’t save the country.

https://macleans.ca/economy/why-canadas-oil-sands-arent-coming-back/

More pipelines won’t make Canada more secure. Renewable energy will

https://thenarwhal.ca/opinion-canada-renewables-trump-tariffs/   

Keep our power in Canada – expand the east-west grid with renewables, not the north-south grid with more gas and nuclear

https://www.cleanairalliance.org/east-west/

Canada's Home Electrification Toolkit

Your guide to a cleaner, smarter, more affordable home

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tKfafxknkwkJ_DuLhMc2zyD9Q4TURDcD/view  

Fight Pierre Poilievre’s corporate power grab

An appeal to organizations and individuals to build solidarity, stop the scapegoating and unite for a liveable future

https://stoppoilievre.couragecoalition.ca/

Sign the Pledge for Canada

https://engagement-canada-pledge.ca/

Cooperate for Canada

https://cooperateforcanada.ca

ONTARIO

Ask 4 Questions for Ontario's Political Leaders/Candidates on Energy

https://www.cleanairalliance.org/election-questions/

Vote For Our Future TownHall: The Ontario Election & You

Recording of webinar hosted by Ontario Climate Emergency Coalition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBcggkrT1Q&t=12s

Ontario’s Election Debate with 4 party leaders - Feb. 17 recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlOIHDPnrY4

Fed up with Doug Ford? 

There's no time to waste! Find a riding where a PC is vulnerable, then get to work or donate $. To find a riding in your area, check out: 

In Toronto: Not One Seat: https://www.notoneseat.ca/candidates  

In Ontario: Common Ground: https://commongroundon.blogspot.com   

Unity Candidates for Ontario: https://cooperateforcanada.ca/heres-how-you-can-help-ontario/

Vote Well: https://votewell.ca 

On Feb 27, don't split the vote. Figure out where your vote matters most. See our newsletter. 

https://shorturl.at/AYKaC 

Green Prosperity - Provincial election survey about the environment

See the responses from the Ontario NDP, Liberals and Greens. No response from the PCs.

https://greenprosperity.ca/provincial-election-survey-2025/

NDP, Liberals and Greens support phasing-out of Ontario’s polluting gas power 

No response from the PC's to our election questionnaire

https://www.cleanairalliance.org/ndp-liberals-greens/

Vote Ontario on Food and Farming 

https://sustainontario.com/vote2025/ 

Toronto Adds $2B to Climate Programs Through First-Ever Carbon Budget Process

https://www.theenergymix.com/toronto-adds-2b-to-climate-programs-through-first-ever-carbon-budget-process/  

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EVENTS

International Update: Nuclear Waste Burial Programs in the UK, US and EU

Tues. Feb. 18, noon ET

The nuclear industry in Canada purports that nuclear waste burial is part of international best practice, but the reality is that there is no operating DGR for high-level radioactive wastes anywhere in the world. Join this session to hear from organizations tracking nuclear waste burial schemes in other jurisdictions.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oFKh_nVJRkGjpkoMDAzlCA#/registration  

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Health Impacts of the Portlands Gas Plant (on Toronto’s waterfront)

Tues. Feb. 18, 7 - 8 p.m. ET

Learn about the health impacts of Toronto's Portlands gas plant and the current context of energy generation in Ontario. TERRE is a coalition of East End residents and local climate justice groups working together to oppose the expansion of the polluting Portlands gas plant in our neighbourhood and to ensure its phase out by 2030. We are committed to supporting a rapid, just transition to renewable energy in Toronto and across Ontario.

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Gr3IdaxxTXyFYSgnsdRQqA

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Climate-Proofing Your Personal Finances

Tues. Feb. 18, 7 p.m. ET

We already know that climate change will bring about massive shifts globally. Have you considered how this will affect your personal finances? As our planet shifts, your wallet might feel the ripple effects in ways you never imagined! Join Tim Nash from Good Investing as he teams up with Amy Castator from Project Neutral and Adam Lynes-Ford from My Climate Plan to educate you on the powerful connection between your money and the climate.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EXtVz3ePSB-czt-O9Tpvnw#/registration  

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Covering Trump’s Climate Blitzkrieg - with Bill McKibben

Tues. Feb. 18, 12 pm ET

US president Donald Trump and unelected billionaire Elon Musk are openly violating the law, trying to defund key agencies, installing climate deniers throughout government, and attacking international climate action. Relentlessly “flooding the zone” with outlandish proposals has long been Trump’s media strategy. How can journalists in the US and around the world stay focused on informing the public and holding power to account? Join this working conversation with Heatmap senior reporter Jael Holzman, Asia-Pacific Guardian contributor Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, and author and New Yorker contributor Bill McKibben. 

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8117394756033/WN_WQrb0U3HRs2dbhW7-GwGzw#/registration

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How long can Russia sustain its aggression in Ukraine?

Tues. Feb. 18, 11:30 am ET

The Eurasia Center discusses how the confluence of Russia’s war of attrition, economic decline, and energy damage impact the Russian Federation and its global standing.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/how-long-can-russia-sustain-its-aggression-in-ukraine/

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School Streets: Enhancing Neighborhoods In Paris & Barcelona

Tues. Feb. 18, 11 a.m. - noon

Barcelona’s school streets program, Protegim les Escoles has transformed over 200 schools environments to make them greener, safer and healthier places for children, families and neighbours, through an investment of over €16 million. School streets programs aim to improve the quality of these public spaces through street re-designs, traffic calming measures, the removal of car parking and the addition of street furniture and vegetation.

Paris’ Rues aux Enfants initiative, launched in 2020, has been especially impactful. It has transformed over 200 streets into low-traffic areas, with 70 of them redesigned to better accommodate pedestrians and children. This innovative approach has garnered international attention, with cities from around the world seeking insights from the Mairie de Paris on how to replicate this model of urban development.

Guests: Priscilla Benedetti, and Jordi Honey-Rosés

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fPrSL-cpTx2JiTOzdPrKlQ#/registration  

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Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy

Tues. Feb. 18, 3 p.m. ET

Ray Acheson will share valuable insights from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and its journey to achieving the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted in 2017 and entering into force in 2021.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tQ2FdPQgR1WqbmbZVlXRsw#/registration  

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Geneva Summit – Raising Voices on Freedom

Tues. Feb. 18 – Watch live now

The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy is a major conference that shines a spotlight on urgent human rights situations that require global attention. It provides human rights heroes, activists and former political prisoners with a unique platform to testify about their personal struggles for democracy and freedom, while building an international community to take on dictatorships.

https://genevasummit.org/

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Invasive Species Forum

Feb. 18 - 20

The virtual Invasive Species Forum is an annual event that brings attention to invasive species issues, research, and advances in prevention and management occurring across Canada, and in neighbouring U.S. States.

https://www.invasivespeciescentre.ca/events/invasive-species-forum/  

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Climate, Carbon and Technocracy

Wed. Feb. 19, 2 p.m. ET

Camila Moreno, Climate analyst and climate COP expert, will share unparalleled knowledge about global climate governance and its link to digitalisation. She delves into why climate has been reduced to a narrow focus on carbon dioxide and explains how this reductionist approach has derailed a broad environmental movement and led to a focus on corporate-friendly market-based schemes, and the financialization of nature. Camila´s x-ray analysis helps us to understand what is happening behind the curtains of a largely invisible global technocratic system, and gets us closer to understanding the institutionalized obstacles to human-scale living-economies and feminine futures.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/femininefutures/1525465

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What Scientists Are Telling Us About Radiation that Nuclear Boosters Won't

Thur. Feb. 20, noon ET

Join in on the webinar sponsored by the NGO Gender + Radiation Impact Project, with leading experts on the impacts of radiation, to answer your questions about new research concerning harmful impacts of the nuclear energy and weapons industries. A growing body of evidence reveals ionizing radiation disproportionately impacts women and young children. Those arguing for expanding nuclear power and weapons production pointedly ignore and contradict evidence of their harms -- part of a pattern of suppression that goes back to the dawn of the nuclear age a century ago.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_I6Urz_iGSR2Zvb43N08_GQ#/registration  

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War and peace: The state of the battlefield and Trump’s diplomacy in Ukraine

Fri, Feb. 21, 11 am ET

The Eurasia Center discusses the state of the war and the prospects for Trump’s diplomacy to achieve a sustainable peace deal.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/war-and-peace-the-state-of-the-battlefield-and-trumps-diplomacy-in-ukraine/

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Music Votes Ontario Canvass 

Sat. Feb. 22, Meet 12:30-1, Canvass 1-3:30, Music 3:30-5/5:30

Musicians, Music Industry Workers and Music Fans are Invited to join together with Teachers, Climate activists and other Torontonians to Stop Ford. We are organizing Music infused Mass Canvasses in Ridings where the Conservatives can be defeated. The afternoons will involve a couple of hours of canvassing followed by a free concert with some of Toronto's best musicians including some very special surprise guests!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdk0mXxCEJhLhLe8Bw_maeeY5ZP0prRn0qs75bsdNmODezIEQ/viewform   

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Rally to Save Ontario Science Centre

Sat. Feb. 22, 2 - 4 p.m.

Thorncliffe Park Public School, Toronto

Join us to call on provincial candidates to commit to reopen, renew, and reinvest in Ontario's Science Centre. Speakers will include advocates, community members, teachers, and students.

https://www.savesciencecentre.com/thorncliffeparkrally

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For the best Canadian climate and energy news, visit and subscribe to the Energy Mix newsletter.

http://theenergymix.com/  

Democracy Now Daily Show - global peace, justice and enviro news

https://www.democracynow.org/

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Submissions, subscribes, unsubscribes, and comments: mailto:angela at cleanairalliance.org 

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