We have to kill fossil fuels before they kill us

Fossil fuels have put us in a dilemma: how to stop using a dirty, obsolete technology riddled with side effects, but behind which are some of the biggest economic empires on the planet.

Last week, The Guardian announced its decision to ban advertising by fossil fuel companies, including their renewable energy initiatives, dubbing them greenwashing. The initiative, which will cost the newspaper, follows other decisions signaling that these companies are rapidly falling out of favor: BlackRock, the world’s largest investment fund, says the climate emergency is redefining the world of finance, and that it will no longer invest in companies that pose a high risk in terms of sustainability. But BlackRock is not alone: the European Investment Bank announced last July that it would end all funding for fossil fuel projects by 2020, which Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund has already done; Norway’s — the world’s largest — has also eliminated coal companies from its portfolio and is now considering doing the same for its oil and gas assets.

Read the Medium story by Enrique Dans - “We have to kill fossil fuels before they kill us.”

Canadian premiers out of step with the world on climate action

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f Canada's premiers sign an agreement this week to speed up oil sands pipelines they will be out of step with much of the world, which is now recognizing the need for unprecedented action on climate through a phase-out of fossil fuels.

They will be giving a green light to the expansion of dirty, expensive bitumen projects and squandering a moment, perhaps unique, of extraordinary hope and possibility.

While the World Bank, G7, and International Energy Agency have expressed concern about climate, the last few weeks have seen the emergence of developments that are more impressive still.

Read the David Suzuki Foundation story - “Premiers going in one direction on climate action, the world in another”.