Transition Sooke Festive Gathering
Hold the Wrapping Paper!!
Transition Sooke in Sooke Santa Parade
Lions Seek Alternative Location
Tree Canopy
Old Growth
Free Local Energy Experts
Hot Movie Tip
Sue Big Oil
Meetings and Events
Opportunities with Transition Sooke
Your Opinion Matters
Your December Newsletter
Photo: S. Belford
Transition Sooke Festive Gathering
Please join our seasonal festive gathering. Here’s the details:
Sunday December 11
1 – 4 pm
2950 Michelson Road
Home of Anna Russell
(Lots of parking along the road)
BYOB and bring pot-luck finger-food appetizers Masks optional
Zero Waste Sooke's Wendy O'Connor will be giving a demonstration of furoshiki, the Japanese art of wrapping gifts in festive material:
Sunday December 18th
Sooke Library Large meeting room
12:30-1:30.
Bring a gift to wrap and a suitable piece of material (scarves from the thrift store work well) if you wish. Free. Just show up (no registration required).
Lions Seek Alternative Location
The proposal for a new Lions Club community hall in John Phillips Memorial Park has been shelved for now by the organization. At the November 28 District of Sooke Council meeting a letter was entered into the minutes from the Lions Club. It stated that as a result of community input at their open house it will pause its efforts and look at alternatives to the park location. This is good news for those Sooke residents that worked hard to keep this park green.
Enhancements in the park are still needed to deliver more green benefits. These may include.
Negotiating to include the privately-owned 2 acres of land adjacent to the park. This piece has been utilized and maintained as park by the DOS and most residents think it is parkland.
Creation of an appropriate access pathway from the Town Core entering the park from Otter Point Rd. & Wadams Way. The present steep gravel path is inappropriate and does not provide town core pedestrian traffic with easy access into the park.
Development of a significant tree planting program to help restore the urban canopy. A heathy urban canopy has numerous benefits besides climate mitigation.
I lifted this paragraph from Sierra Club’s Jen Weiting:
"The old-growth and climate crises are inseparably linked. One cannot be addressed without the other. We have arrived at a point where we cannot save the last carbon-rich old-growth forests without stabilizing the climate, and we cannot stabilize the climate without saving the last intact forests."
I think TS should make a strong link between the old-growth-sequestration and climate change. It’s not the solution and it won’t stop climate change. It is what we have to protect so things don’t get worse.
At the same time, we need to carefully maneuveraway from accounting carbon sequestration as an excuse to pollute. No offsets allowed. Think of the sequestration account as a separate “retirement fund.” You can only put into it, not take it out.
Susan C
Free local energy experts are here to help...
With cooler weather comes higher heating costs; homeowners can cut down on those costs with a low-carbon home energy retrofit. To help, the Capital Regional District has launched the Home Energy Navigator program to support energy upgrades in the region’s single-family homes.
Connect with an Energy Concierge who will answer your questions and provide expert advice as you navigate the complex world of home energy retrofits. You’ll have access to quote reviews, support with accessing rebates, a personalized roadmap and more!
Reprinted from the Capital Daily with material from the CRD
Hot Movie Tip!
Hi Transition Sooke!
I just recently came across this video on YouTube that is available for free viewing now. It Is quite good. Worth sharing I believe.
The first quarter is hard to watch, but the rest is all positive regenerative solutions from New Zealand.
For decades, coal, oil and gas corporations have known that burning fossil fuels would cause the heat waves, wildfires, drought and flooding that we’re now experiencing in BC. But instead of owning up to the problem, they embarked on a decades-long disinformation campaign attempting to discredit climate science. Some folks still believe this disinformation today.
The UN Environmental Program (UNEP) estimates that the costs of repair, mitigation and adaptation "could hit $500 Billion per year by 2050". The most recent COP event showcased low-income, low-emitting countries who suffer climate change's first effects pleading with wealthy carbon-emitting countries to provide financial support for such repairs. Eventually a vague agreement stated that a fund would be set up... next year.
All of us humans are responsible for climate change, to the extent we have burned wood, oil, gasoline and fossil gas. Many individuals have heard the call to reduce their personal emissions and are retrofitting their homes and changing their transportation habits. All layers of government have begun to budget for this work as well. But who has not? You guessed it – the world’s seven biggest oil firms whose profits so far have reached almost £150 Billion ($243 B) in 2022 (Guardian, Oct.'22).
West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) has begun to collect plaintiffs for the Sue Big Oil class action lawsuit, in which BC municipalities and provincial government will join together to call major oil companies to account and force them to pay their fair share of climate change repair and adaptation. Vancouver signed on, and other municipalities are following suit. In a July survey this year, WCEL found that "A strong majority (69%) support local governments in BC working together to sue the world’s most polluting oil companies to make them pay for a share of the increasing costs of climate change. Almost two-in-five (39%) strongly support. Less than one-in-five (19%) oppose."
Click hereto find out about the local Sue Big Oil initiative.
Upcoming Events
Dec 4 Sooke Santa Parade
Dec 11 1 – 4 pm Seasonal Festivity 2950 Michelson Road Dec 18 2–1:30 pm Hold the Wrapping Paper! Furoshiki Sooke Library
Jan 22 1–5 pm Strategic Planning More info next month
Feb TBA Public Forum Details TBA
Mar 22 1-5 Transition Sooke AGM
Opportunities with Transition Sooke
Do you want to contribute to issues of sustainability, environmental protection, climate leadership and just transition in your community? Join us and influence the focus and direction of Transition Sooke by:
Checking out Transition Action Groups on the Transition Sooke Website. Two groups that are re-forming after a break are Transportationand Divestment, another group is forming around so-called "Natural Gas".
Joining the Council Watchdogsand help keep Transition Sooke community members informed about local municipal actions and policies
Helping Transition Sooke reach out to the community by staffing information tables at community events
Join the Ad Hoc Public Forum committee to organize a public consultation event on Sooke issues to work on this year. Contact us to be involved.
Coming to meetings and taking part in some great discussions!
MONTHLY TRANSITION SOOKE MEETINGS
All meetings are "hybrid " meetings. You can participate either by Zoom at home or in person at the Sooke library (with refreshments)
Your letters and articles on climate change, development, and community resilience in the Sooke News Mirror keep important issues in the public eye. If you want to join one of Transition Sooke's Action Groups pleasecontact us. And if you have a photo you'd like to send the newsletter, a letter to the editor, or a piece of news, please forward that to us as well. Thank you!
