GUELPH POLITICAST #412 – A Climate Action Check-In

03/27/24 • 45 min

The City of Guelph has two goals, one to be a net zero community by 2050 and the other to be 100 per cent powered by renewable energy at the same time, and while 2050 is still a good 26 years away, it’s going to get here sooner than we think. This week, we're going to go over the climate action report card, how is Guelph doing as we're trying to turn the tide?

From the moment Guelph city council established their net zero and 100 per cent renewable goals in 2021, local climate activists have been asking to see a plan and interim goals. Guelph has a reputation for being one of the most environmentally-friendly cities in the county, but the devil’s in the details and people have been wanting City Hall to do go beyond bike lanes and electric vehicles.

There’s also a matter of logistics. City hall has been trying to help us out with things like the Guelph Greener Homes program, which offers interest free loans to homeowners to make environmentally-friendly renovations, but that’s only going to help about 600 households; Guelph has 55,000. And then a new controversy arose this week with the Ontario government preparing to override a decision of an Ontario Energy Board, forcing city councils around the province to weigh in.

What a perfect time to be joined again by Evan Ferrari, who is the executive director of eMERGE Guelph, an environmental consultancy. Ferrari will tell us about the current state of Guelph’s conversion to net zero, and how there’s still a lot of work to do. Also, he will talk about how climate action is getting lost in the housing and affordability crisis, and the hiccups in the shift to EVs. And finally, he will look at how the climate deniers have changed the game with new talking points.

So let's look at where we are in the local climate fight on this week's Guelph Politicast!

You can learn more about the advocacy and services of eMERGE at their website, or by following them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin. You can learn more about the City of Guelph’s Greener Homes program at the City’s website. Also, to learn more about the natural gas decision of the Ontario Energy Debate at council this week, you can catch the meeting coverage on Guelph Politico.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, Google, TuneIn and Spotify.

Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

So let's look at where we are in the local climate fight on this week's Guelph Politicast!

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, Google, TuneIn and Spotify.

Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

Previous Episode

Open Sources Guelph #463 - March 21, 2024

This week on Open Sources Guelph, it's starting to feel like the bad guys are winning. It's certainly true that a bad guy won in Russia this week, and he has a friend in the United States who he wants to join him in all the winning, but that's still be determined because that guy's got bigger problems. In terms of the smaller problems, we'll have a guest on to talk about solutions.

This Thursday, March 21, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

The Totally Vlad Show. In an election outcome that was assured long before a single vote was cast, Vladimir Putin has secured a fifth term as the President of the Russian Federation, which means he'll be in charge for a period longer than even Joseph Stalin. While Putin secures his continued dominance in the Kremlin, countries in eastern Europe are preparing for war so where does Russia go from here?

"Bloodbath" and Beyond. Donald Trump did it again, threatening America with violence in the event that he doesn't win the U.S. presidential election this fall. But maybe he was just lashing out because he's seemingly run out of gullible suckers who will cover his legal costs as he faces the possibility of having his assets seized by the New York Attorney General. We will catch up with some American politics.

The Fraud Squad. March is Fraud Prevention Month; in fact, 2024 marks the 20th annual observance of the occasion. These are very fraud-y times indeed with reports coming in all the time about someone losing money to a cryptocurrency scam or losing thousands of dollars to someone posing as their grandchild's criminal lawyer, but there are ways you can protect yourself. Jeff Horncastle from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre will join us to talk about how.

Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

Next Episode

End Credits #334 - March 27, 2024 (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire)

This week on End Credits, we ain't afraid of no ghost... busters movie review. In the spirit of Easter and themes of rebirth and rising from the dead, we head to movie theatre to check out a terrifying return in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Along similar lines, we will go back in time to the year 1984 to look at two movies and an open weekend paradox that crosses the streams!

This Wednesday, March 27, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:

The Battle of '84. On the same weekend in June 1984, two similar but very different movies opened in theatres everywhere; one was Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters and the other was Joe Dante's Gremlins. Both have elements of horror and comedy, but perhaps the films slide more to one side or the other, and yet one thing is clear: Two major releases this similar would never get released on the same weekend in 2024! So we will decide, once and for all, who's superior.

REVIEW: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). For 40 years now, we've been asking. "Who you gonna call?" and we have occasionally got an answer, but in this movie, *everyone* answers the call. Almost anyone that's even been, thought about or tangentially connected to the Ghostbusters returns for Frozen Empire, in which the ghostbusting Spengler family fight a giant snow demon and their own internal dysfunctions. They've spent a lot of years trying to turn the Ghostbusters into a massive action/adventure franchise, so does this busting end up feeling good?

End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.