Bill McKibben’s visit to UBC this week was a tremendous success. The Chan Centre was packed, the atmosphere was electric, the reviews were spectacular, and the attendees were truly inspired. However, that was the easy part. Now the hard work begins; we have to follow up, and follow through.
I’m really encouraged to see that faculty and students have taken this call to action seriously. George Hoberg took the liberty of making a Facbeook page and saving the domain UBC350.org — people at 350 were thrilled by the news! I think this is a good first step in accomplishing what we set out to achieve with the talk, and with the Terry Project more broadly — mobilizing students and faculty, across disciplines, to face the most pressing issue of our time.
Professor Ng spoke to Bill about just this, and I’m pleased to say that 350.org is very keen to support us. Bill McKibben wasn’t joking; he understands that British Columbia, and UBC, are on the forefront of this fight. This is both a great honour, and a terrible burden — but I believe that we’re up to it.
What should UBC350 look like? You can have your say, if you fill out the Doodle, and join us for the first organization meeting.
Missed the talk, and don’t know what 350 is all about? Here’s a great animation describing it:
UPDATE
Could Burn’s Bog be the site of UBC350′s first battle? From Professor Laura Janara (UBC Political Science) and Kalyeena Makortoff (News Editor, Ubyssey):
The future vitality of Delta’s Burns Bog has recently been challenged. The largest carbon sink on the west coast of North America… there can be little doubt as to the significance of the role the bog plays in sustaining our environmental standards of living on British Columbia’s lower mainland. However, a recent project to expand the South Fraser Perimeter Road, known as the Gateway Project, threatens the future of this natural refuge.
In light of issues surrounding Burns Bog, a group of Political Science 449 students will be hosting a presentation on November 23rd in MASS (bottom floor of Buchanan D). The presentation will begin at 6:30pm and will consist of a screening of ‘Burns Bog: A Road Runs through It’, followed by a panel of speakers including:
Patrick Condon – UBC professor of Landscape Architecture; Sustainable Urban Design
Stephen Rees – transportation economist; transportation critic for the B.C. Green Party
Whether you are a passionate environmentalist, public policy connoisseur, or just a curious political science student that would like to know more about the bog, we encourage you and everyone to come out for refreshments, snacks, and the critical engagement of a sensitive environmental issue.
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http://StopThePave.org is a local grassroots campaign that’s been tackling the SFPR issue for a few years now. we’d like to offer ourselves as a resource for your action planning.
here’s a 350 event we co-organized with the council of canadians a little over a year ago: http://stopthepave.org/dig
The Burns Bog Conservation Society has been working for 23 years for the conservation of Burns Bog. It’s more than a wetland. It’s a huge carbon sink next to Vancouver, the 3rd largest city in Canada. It’s part of the Pacific Flyway. It sits next to the world’s largest salmon-bearing river–the Fraser River. It’s what makes Vancouver and the rest of the lower mainland liveable. Don’t believe me? Check out Moscow, 2010 when their peatlands were burning. People died. Others ended up in hospital.
The South Fraser Perimeter Road is threatening it. The Road comes within less than 100 metres of 2 schools and within 1000 metres of 15 schools. Technical Report No. 16., p.39 states that there will be increased employment in the health sector due to increased respiratory and cancer illnesses!
Do you want to be a victem or responsible for someone else’s cancer or respiratory illness?
If you are “Running for the Cure,”, how will you run if you can’t breathe?
[...] opposed to speaking to an audience. Regardless, another talk on the environment that seems to have inspired some people into action (Gordon reports that it was packed, but he was pretty enthusiastic about McKibben talking, so I [...]