Episode Details

In this last round (6) of season 1, you hear about the dangers of greenwashing and the false solutions it presents to the climate crisis, delaying necessary climate action. Various speakers highlight the manipulation of public perception by corporations and the influence of industry on government policies. The conversations touch on the challenges faced by indigenous communities, the impact of colonization, and the need for decolonization and cultural restoration. Additionally, the speakers reflect on personal experiences, the importance of inner work, and the role of music in inspiring change and hope. The discussion emphasizes the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and cultural issues and the collective effort required to address them.

Misrepresentation is dangerous because in greenwashing we have messaging that promotes false solutions to the climate crisis and delays the kind of climate action that we really need to be taking. The corporation is reassuring us that they’re already doing the things that need to happen and they have the plan. The Pathways Alliance is all about presenting this kind of plan for net zero that is deeply, basically just one example, local to Canada, but this is happening around the world.

Jenny Yeremiy — Co-Host | Geophysicist | Liability Expert | Public Activist

To me, the cycle that we’re in here is that we have this false solution being presented to industry, so then we have the public relying on people that are in the industry to say, no, no, no, we’ve got this right? So I’m telling my friends, oh yeah, yeah, we’re doing CCS, and then what happens is the government officials, so these politicians then feel obligated to support the public because they’re angry and they want to make sure that our industry is being looked after. They go as far as to, there was an excellent article that the Norwell did have recordings of TC energy executives talking about their relationship with the US government and how they are driving these messages through to policy. I can say this, I was a lobbyist. I didn’t appreciate that I was a lobbyist, but I was writing letters to the government. Now, from my point of view, I can be confident that I was writing letters about site restoration. The message that I was making to the government is if we want indigenous participation, it needs to be in site cleanup. It cannot be in carbon capture and storage, and who better to lead that. This was my messaging to the government than indigenous communities that have faced this issue for decades.

JP Sapinski — Associate Professor of Environmental Studies | University of Moncton

I read a different section of bill for C 59 and in that section what they talk about is a tax credit on carbon capture utilisation and storage. That’s a kind of vulnerable bill. So there’s a whole bunch of things in the bill including that pardon, grid washing, different stuff on unemployment insurance and so on, and it touches on everything that’s in the budget. Kind of an example of greenwashing. On the one hand you have a law against greenwashing that also includes provisions that support continued use of, well production of and use of fossil fuels. And there’s also another part, another tax credit on clean industry investments, which is very interesting. Tax credit on renewable solar wind, which also includes nuclear. So there’s tax credit for nuclear power plants, specifically targeted at small nuclear reactors, small module nuclear reactors, which the oil industry is looking to use in decarbonizing its production.

D.A. Sarah Stogner — Texas 143rd Judicial District Attorney

It’s not a new problem in West Texas. It’s the tragedy of the commons and where I am, everyone’s like, oh, it’s just mesquite scrub brush and you can see here, okay, well a hundred years ago it was all beautiful grasslands and we overgrazed it and then after we overgrazed it,