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Books and on-line newspapers that we have enjoyed. All are worth your time, too.

On-Line Newspapers

We don’t think much of the National Post, the Globe & Mail, and the Vancouver Sun as sources of unbiased reporting. But to be fair, all three occasionally have some fine commentary and investigative reporting. If you want investigative journalism and content on environmental and political issues, check out these on-line publications. They are available (free) for daily subscription, but are supported by readers. One of us gives supports both. 

The National Observer  A Vancouver-based paper, with a left-of-centre slant. Covers ome stories you won’t find in the big dailies.

The Tyee A long established on-line paper with a leftish viewpoint. It has some fine reporters and commentators, including Andrew Nikiforuk, Rafe Mair, Crawford Kilian, and Bill Tieleman.

Books by Andrew Nikiforuk

We highly recommend the following three books by Andrew Nikiforuk, a Canadian journalist who has won multiple National Magazine Awards, not to mention the Governor General’s Award for English-language non-fiction.

Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent (Greystone Books, revised edition, 2010). A critical examination of the world’s largest energy project - the Alberta tar sands - that has made Canada one of the worst environmental offenders on the planet. He reveals the true costs of our oil addition with wit and candor.

The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude (Greystone Books, 2012). A radical analysis of our master-and-slave relationships throughout history, from human slaves to today’s energy slaves based on fossil fuels.

Empire of the Beetle: How Human Folly and a Tiny Bug are Killing North America’s Great Forests(Greystone Books, 2011). The author relates how misguided science, out-of-control logging, bad public policy and a hundred years of fire suppression released the oldest forest manger (the beetle) from all natural constraints.

Good Books We’ve Read

The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming by Guy Dauncey (New Society Publishers, 2009). This book is a concise and easy to understand summary of global warming and its causes. His step-by-step narrative outlines solutions ranging from easy to implement changes to our own lifestyles to advice on how governments and industry might tackle climate change.

The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change by Tim Flannery (Harper Collins Publishers, 2006). A powerful and succinct book on the earth’s “colossal” carbon dioxide problem. He shows how we can shift from our current global reliance on fossil fuels to a sustainable and green hydrogen-based economy. Flannery’s main message is that all of us are the weather makers - we are the cause of the current rapid climate change and we have the ability to solve that problem.

Vancouver, City on the Edge: Living With a Dynamic Geological Landscape by John Clague and Bob Turner (Tricouni Press, 2003).  A best-seller, and not just for Vancouverites. Rocks, landforms, volcanoes, the Ice Age, earthquakes, & landslides & water issues in the Lower Mainland of B.C. (One of us is the publisher of this book).

Bee Time: Less ons from the Hive by Mark Winston (Harvard University Press, 2014). Don’t be put off by the academic publisher: this is a short, highly readable and thoughtful book about bees, colony collapse, and the lessons they can teach us about ourselves and human society.