Optimistic Environmentalist, The : Progressing Toward a Greener Future - Softcover

David R. Boyd

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1770412387 ISBN 13: 9781770412385

Publisher: ECW Press, 2015

Synopsis

Yes, the world faces substantial environmental challenges - climate change, pollution and extinction. But the surprisingly good news is that we have solutions to these problems. In the past 50 years, a remarkable number of environmental problems have been solved, while substantial progress is ongoing on others. The Optimistic Environmentalist chronicles these remarkable success stories, from saving endangered species to creating national parks that conserve land and resources. A bright green future is not only possible, it's within our grasp.

About this title

About the Author

David R. Boyd is an environmental lawyer, professor, and advocate for recognition of the right to live in a healthy environment. Boyd is the award-winning author of seven books and more than 100 articles and currently co-chairs Vancouver's Greenest City initiative with Mayor Gregor Robertson. He lives on Pender Island, B.C. For more information, visit DavidRichardBoyd.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Optimistic Environmentalist

Progressing Towards a Greener Future

By David R. Boyd

ECW PRESS

Copyright © 2015 David R. Boyd
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-77041-238-5

CHAPTER 1

Nature's Comeback Stories

THE MEDIA REGULARLY REPORTS heart-rending stories about species pushed to the brink of extinction by human malfeasance — overhunting, overfishing, destroying habitat, introducing alien species, and spewing toxic substances into the environment. It's true that the rate of extinctions has accelerated in recent centuries. Despite this, many species are enjoying remarkable comebacks because we've smartened up and improved our once-damaging ways.

One of the first memorable slogans of the environmental movement in the early 1970s was "Save the Whales." Who can forget the iconic image of the first Greenpeace activists in a tiny Zodiac, buzzing around a Russian whaling vessel like an agitated bumblebee trying to protect its honey from a bear? You don't hear about saving the whales that often anymore, because many whale species are making extraordinary comebacks.

From my little writing cabin overlooking Swanson Channel in the Southern Gulf Islands, I can sometimes hear whales passing by. Most of the time it's a pod of southern resident killer whales, hot on the trail of a school of Chinook salmon. In recent years, humpback whales have reappeared. Not in huge numbers, and they can't be sighted daily, but they appear with a frequency and consistency that is encouraging. As with the more commonly observed orcas, you hear them before you see them. When humpbacks surface, they exhale, a frothy whooshing blast of air that sounds like someone trying to play a waterlogged tuba. The first time my daughter Meredith heard the telltale whoosh, she thought it sounded like a sea monster. We saw the tail flukes wave at us as the whale submerged and then we watched as it surfaced and submerged repeatedly, slowly moving away to the east.

In 2014, the government of Canada announced that it was down-listing the Pacific Ocean population of humpback whales from threatened to special concern. Great news, right? Instead of prompting celebrations about the recovery of a previously imperiled creature, the news provoked criticism and controversy. Environmentalists accused the government of down-listing humpbacks in order to smooth the waters for the proposed Northern Gateway project, which involves a new pipeline from northern Alberta's bitumen sands to Kitimat on B.C.'s coast. From there, heavy crude would be loaded onto massive tankers, then navigated through a treacherous stretch of water where the Queen of the North ferry sank in 2006 and onwards to oil-thirsty consumers from California to China. The tanker route is a concern because it would pass directly through one of four areas identified by scientists as critical habitat for humpback whales.

Our predecessors treated humpbacks and other whales as nothing more than an infinite supply of natural resources, greedily hunting them for the oil their bodies contained. The Pacific humpback population that was once greater than 125,000 was decimated by the 1960s, with fewer than 10,000 remaining. When hunting was banned in 1966 under the auspices of a global treaty called the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, humpbacks must have breathed a collective whoosh of relief. Their numbers slowly began to climb and are now estimated at more than 80,000, with steady annual increases of 4–5 percent.

The humpback's cousin, the gray whale, was also nearly hunted into oblivion. Slurping sediments from the ocean's floor and filtering amphipods and shrimp through th

Edition details

• Publisher: ECW Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1770412387
• ISBN 13: 9781770412385
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240