Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Despite the fact polls consistently show roughly two thirds of the Albertan electorate want to remain in Canada, Premier Danielle Smith - a former fossil fuel lobbyist whose government not too long ago imposed an outright ban on new renewable energy projects for 7 months - is concerned about her province's separatist movement. She and Prime Minister Mark Carney agree that the best way to preserve national unity is to build more pipelines so that Alberta's oil sector can further ramp up production. As the oil sector is not willing to put up the necessary funding, they also agreed that Canadian and Albertan taxpayers can carry up to 90% of the cost of the proposed West Coast Pipeline.

Canada is not the only nation racing to sell its fossil fuel resources while there is still time. The 2025 Production Gap report states that their combined increases are "more than 120% above the median 1.5ºC pathway and 77% above the median 2ºC pathway." According to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, "Current fossil fuel expansion plans would take the world past 3 degrees of warming ..."

In this morning's interview, Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, talks about the proposed West Coast Pipeline.

Jemma Hicken/ Folk U Radio - Thanks for joining us on July 24th, 2026 for the 4th week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage.

Stand-in host Jemma Hicken was joined by the Awakeneers, who delivered a folk-forward set filled with stunning harmonies, jokes, and existential questions. They chatted about their new album, the challenges and delights of being in a family band, told a few tour stories, and discussed diplomacy, decision-making, and songwriting.

The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The first tenants have been living at Rainbow Ridge for a month, and Cortes Island’s affordable housing complex is now offering tours of the site.

There were fifteen of us on Saturday, July 24. Most were curious neighbours, but a couple of people asked about rental rates, and there were also a couple of tourists. One summer resident, who does not have a washer or dryer, was very interested in the laundry club that will operate out of the community building.

Mark Lombard, the construction manager, gave Cortes Currents an interview after the tour. Work was in progress in a nearby building and construction noises periodically enter the audio.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Tzeporah Berman: The Problem With Ramping Up Fossil Fuel Production & Expanding Energy Consumption

According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, "Human activities have pushed Earth beyond its Safe Operating Space. The planet's natural resilience is weakening: Global warming is accelerating, (and) ecosystems are showing clear signs of degradation." In the second of four programs arising from an interview with Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, she explains that the problem is multifaceted, but two critical areas must be addressed: fossil fuel use and our rapidly expanding energy consumption.

The Greatest Cause of Premature Death

Tzeporah Berman: “My research makes it very clear to me that fossil fuel use and production is the greatest cause of premature death on the planet and the greatest threat to the majority of the world’s ecosystems.”

Cortes Currents: “Prove it to me.”

Tzeporah Berman: “Approximately eight million people die every year due to air pollution. Fossil fuels are the majority of that air pollution. Last year, the Lancet Countdown report said that, on average, five million people are dying every year from air pollution due to fossil fuels alone.

“When you start adding climate impacts and deaths, the numbers skyrocket. We know now that one person is dying every minute on this planet due to lethal heat, and the primary cause of the dramatic increase in lethal heat is climate change.

“Eighty-six percent of the carbon emissions currently trapped in our atmosphere — creating almost like a sweltering blanket around the Earth and causing climate change — come from three things: oil, gas, and coal.”

Why Aren’t Renewables Reducing Global Emissions Faster?

Cortes Currents: “Given that renewables are the fastest-growing energy sector, why aren’t we seeing more of an impact in terms of global emissions?”

Tzeporah Berman: “We’re not seeing more of an impact in terms of global emissions even though investment in renewable energy today is double the investment in fossil fuels. Last year, there was $2 trillion invested in renewables and $1 trillion invested in fossil fuels.

“We’re seeing dramatic growth in renewable energy, but we are also seeing continued growth in carbon pollution, emissions, and fossil fuel infrastructure. We can’t solve this just by building the good stuff. We have to stop building the bad stuff too.

“What we often see is, for example, Mark Carney, our prime minister, saying, ‘We’re still going to move toward electrification. We’re going to eventually have a low-carbon economy by building more renewable energy and electrification.’

“You hear that a lot. That’s good — we need that infrastructure — but no one ever phased something out by building more of it, and that’s what we’re doing today.

“Our country has committed internationally. In Dubai, at the climate change negotiations, 190 countries said, ‘Yes, we know we need to phase out fossil fuels, and that’s a priority.’ Now we’re saying we’re going to build more of them.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - More than thirty years have passed since Tzeporah Berman catapulted into public view as an organizer of the Clayoquot Sound logging blockade. She is the Co-founder and International Program Director at Stand.earth, the Founder and Steering Committee Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, and serves as a member of the Advisory Group for InfluenceMap. She is also an author, former adjunct professor, and has sat on committees advising the governments of B.C. and Alberta. When she's not away speaking at conferences, or in the midst of negotiations, Tzeporah Berman is back in her home overlooking Gunflint Lake on Cortes Island. In the first of a series of broadcasts recorded there, she talks about then - and now.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - The last of 4 interviews with Fire Chief Eli McKenty

De Clarke / Cortes Currents - the third interview with Fire Chief Eli McKenty

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - the second of four broadcasts taken from an interview with f=Fire Chief Eli McKenty

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Thanks for joining us on July 17, 2026 for the third week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. This week it poured with rain! The SCCA generously lent the Manson’s Hall deck so we could all stay dry and cozy.

Host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Owyn Pengelly, Denise Wolda, and Basil Aerie Thomas - 3 amazing local musicians in-the-round!

The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.