Living under smoke-filled skies

Last week, Toronto had the worst air quality of any major city in the world. I'm writing this week's newsletter under those same smoke-filled skies.

☀️ Good news: Solar is now so affordable in Australia that three states now offer a free window of electricity midday. 

🔥 Not-so-good news: Nearly 900 wildfires are burning across Canada and a new study estimates $23 billion per year in health impacts ... yet the government just approved a new pipeline to carry a million barrels of oil a day for decades to come.

🌬️ What you can do: If the smoke has reached you, stay inside, seal your windows, make or buy a HEPA air purifier, wear an N95 if you have to go out - and let your elected officials know why this is happening and what they can do about it!

Thank you to Anne Cloud with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Voice Over for the Planet⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for narrating this edition of Talking Climate. 

Post-production and mix by John Crowley at Loudmouth Studio.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.talkingclimate.ca

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to Talking Climate with Katherine Haeho. Each episode, we explore how climate change is affecting the people, places, and things we love, and what we can do to make a difference. From science to solutions and stories that inspire, you're in the right place for real talk about real change. This week we're talking about free daytime energy, Canada's fire crisis, and how to stay safe within the smoke. Let's dive in. Good news. Who wouldn't want three hours of free electricity a day? Now many residents of the Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia have the opportunity to receive this under a government-backed program called SolarSharer. And starting in October, residents of Victoria will be able to access a similar program called Midday PowerSaver. You don't even need solar panels on your own roof to benefit. The free window runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., noon to 3 p.m. in South Australia, and will be capped at 24 kilowatt hours a day. Sustainability Nonprofit Renew estimates most households consume between 10 and 20 kilowatt hours a day. You'll need a smart meter to sign up, which most energy retailers will install for free if you don't already have one. The small catch is that this plan will not automatically be the cheapest one overall, since retailers may charge more outside the free window to balance it out. Consumer advocates say the real savings comes from actively shifting usage into that midday window, running the dishwasher, doing laundry, or charging an EV or batteries, rather than just signing up and hoping for the best. Australia's energy minister Chris Bowen said, people who are able to move electricity use into the zero cost power period will benefit directly. And the more people take up the offer and move their use, the greater the system benefits, that lower costs for all electricity users will be. About two dozen members of the nearby Namegusi Sagagon First Nation community escaped in boats just before their entire town burned to the ground. Three other First Nation communities in Northern Ontario were also ordered to evacuate. These fires are devastating, and they're getting even worse as extreme heat dries out the trees and vegetation. Spain has just experienced its worst wildfire of the year following June's record-breaking heat wave. Scientific studies, including some of my own research, have long warned that continued fossil fuel emissions will make future wildfire seasons increasingly severe. Yet earlier this month, Canada's federal government moved forward on a planned pipeline that will carry one million barrels of oil a day from Alberta's tar sands to the Pacific coast for export to Asia. Pipelines aren't meant to sit idle, they're built to run for decades. So this project would help lock in fossil fuel production and its associated emissions for years to come. Continuing to expand fossil fuel production when Canadians are already living with climate chaos is simply dangerous, said Caroline Bruyette of Climate Action Network Canada. She urged the Canadian government to instead spend money on developing clean energy projects that support workers and position the country for a world moving fast toward renewable energy rather than on another divisive, expensive pipeline. This is why our voices and our votes matter. These choices are made by people we elect who respond to pressure from every direction, including from us. Thanks to the large particles it contains, it's been shown to increase the risks of heart attacks, strokes, asthma attacks, and much more. What can we do to keep ourselves and our families safe from wildfire smoke? That's the question I've been asking myself this week in Ontario. Here's the advice we are following. Number one, stay inside as much as possible. Number two, keep the doors and windows closed. Yes, even if you don't have AC and seal any gaps that air can come in through. I used duct tape. Number three, don't do any intensive work or exercise outdoors if you can help it. Number four, if you need to go outside, wear a mask that filters particulates, ideally an N95. Number five, indoors have a high quality HEPA filter on your HVAC system or an air purifier, especially one that uses activated carbon to remove larger particles from wildfire smoke. And finally, understand how much risk smoke poses to you personally. High risk groups include children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with chronic health conditions such as respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes. Thanks for listening to Talking Climate, narrated by Ann Cloud. For more resources, links, and actions you can take, check out the full newsletter at www.talkingclimate.ca. Until next time, keep talking climate.