The midterm elections in the United States brought a new kind of politician to Washington. Young people from all walks of life who are determined to use the transition to clean energy as a means to secure a better life for all. They’re calling it the Green New Deal. What does this emerging movement look like north of the border, and how can we tap it to get politicians onside as champions for more ambitious climate action? How is job security a central piece of this puzzle? In this episode we explore this movement for a just transition and what it could mean for you.  Subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for this episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We’re entering a brave new world with the transition to clean energy—one of challenge and opportunity. Few places is this more visible than in the world of transportation. While some people see the future as being primarily about electric vehicles, others are questioning our whole approach to getting around.  In this episode, we explore what transportation could look like in the future. Subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for this episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

When colonizers first set foot on this land, their goal was to claim as much of it as possible for themselves. They paid no attention to the fact that Indigenous peoples here had their own governing structures and laws already in place. To the early settlers and explorers, land equaled money and power. To this day, some of us still view the value of land simply in terms of the money it can generate, whether that’s from logging the trees, mining for gold, digging up oil and gas or developing real estate. But now we’re confronting the harsh impacts this approach has had for climate change and for Indigenous peoples. So what can we do differently? How can we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past? This episode invites us to rethink our approach, and explore what we can learn from Indigenous law about being more respectful of the land as we transition to clean energy. Subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for this episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If there’s one thing we can all agree on about oil and gas, it’s that there’s big money in it. Governments invest big money, corporations make big money—and they stand to lose big money as solar and wind rise rapidly. And they spend big money to control the narrative about Canada’s energy and economic future. Mission Transition breaks down where your tax dollars are being invested, who owns energy, who profits, and who’s at risk of being left out in the cold. Subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for this episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Over the past few decades, oil and gas companies have fueled and financed the pumping of billions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. They’ve cashed in, but who bears the cost now? Who’s responsible when thousands lose their homes to climate change fueled fires and floods? Who pays when crops fail in droughts? Who’s on the hook when house values plummet in hurricane zones? We're being told it’s up to us as individuals to be responsible for the shift to a climate-friendly world, but is this really fair?  In this episode, we explore who bears the burden of responsibility for this transition.  To find out, we speak with Catherine Gauthier of ENvironnement JEUnesse about their class action lawsuit against Canada over climate inaction. We hear from the Mayor of Victoria, Lisa Helps, about the burden on municipalities. And we talk to Anjali Appadurai formerly of West Coast Environmental Law about who’s really responsible, and how personal guilt is not going to help move us forward. Subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for this episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Sometimes it seems as though we’re living in different worlds. Most people want solar panels and electric cars, yet our governments are buying pipelines and opening LNG plants. It seems no matter what communities want, bad energy choices are often being inflicted on them. Renewables offer a chance to change this. What would it mean to take back control over our power? Mission Transition explores the idea of energy democracy—one for which many people say the time has come. We hear from Dene lawyer and activist Caleb Behn about what having a stronger say would mean for Indigenous peoples in BC’s north, as well as BC Government Employees Union Executive Vice-President James Coccola about the impact on workers. We talk to Rob Baxter and Dick Bakker with the Vancouver and Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-ops about where the money for local energy generation comes from. We also return to Haida Gwaii where local leaders are taking control of their energy. We hear insights at the Haida Gwaii Renewable Energy Symposium from former Council of the Haida Nation President kil tlaats' gaa Peter Lantin, current CHN President and Swiilawiid Sustainability Society Board Member Jaalen Edenshaw, and head of the CHN Energy Committee Stephen (Buck) Grosse. Subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for this episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Haida Gwaii has a fossil fuel problem. Every year 30 million litres of diesel are ferried to the island to provide heat, power and gas for its 4,000 residents. The residents are determined to change this, aiming for zero diesel in just over 5 years. It’s an ambitious goal. Mission Transition takes you to Haida Gwaii to find out what fuels their passion for clean energy, how they’re making changes—large and small—and what a community needs to get to 100% renewable.  In this episode, we take you to the Haida Gwaii renewable energy symposium. We'll hear insights from a number of community members and Haida leaders including former Council of the Haida Nation President kil tlaats' gaa Peter Lantin, Haida Gwaii Museum Executive Director Jisgang Nika Collison, Yourbrook Energy co-founder Clyde Greenough, artist and Haida activist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Swiilawiid Sustainability Society Board Member Jaalen Edenshaw, Skidegate Band Councillor Trent Moreas and Haida Elder Barbara Wilson. Subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for this episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Every time we think we’ve seen how badly climate change is impacting us, we see another level of damage. The fall of 2018 saw the destruction of an entire California town by wildfires. Climate impacts are forcing millions of people worldwide to migrate. The need for the clean energy transition is clear, the debate is now about how fast and in what way it needs to happen. In this episode, we begin with basic questions: What makes energy clean—or not? What are “transition fuels" and do we have time to develop them? To explore them, we turn to Sierra Club BC’s Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner Jens Wieting and energy policy researcher Zoë Yunker. We hear from Molly Wickham, a spokesperson for the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation on the real impacts of one so-called “transition fuel.” And we have insightful conversations with National Observer journalist Emilee Gilpin and award winning author and sustainability expert Guy Dauncey on the urgency of this transition to clean energy. Subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for this episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Remember when you were 15 or 16? If you thought about your future, you could probably see a world of endless possibilities for travel, work and family. But youth today are confronted with the impacts of a climate crisis they didn’t create. And although they may feel overwhelmed now, they’re still thinking about a future filled with endless possibilities… just not the same possibilities many of us used to think about. In the first episode of Mission Transition: Season 2, we hear from three young people about their hopes for a post-carbon future. Finn Kreischer is a 15 year old Sierra Club BC volunteer, Antonia Paquin is a climate strike organizer with Youth for Climate Victoria and Hannah Gelderman is an organizer with Rise and Resist as well as #OurTime2019 which involves youth in building the vision for a Green New Deal for Canada. You can subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for each episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Nearly every day now, we hear of some new innovation moving the world toward clean energy. For many of us, this means installing solar panels, buying an electric vehicle or maybe giving up the car altogether. But this transition raises many questions most people haven't even started to consider. What actually counts as clean energy? Who should make decisions about how it’s produced—and how do these projects impact communities? How do we need to rethink land use in a clean energy economy? Sierra Club BC’s podcast Mission Transition: Clean Energy and Beyond dives into these questions and more with interviews from thinkers and doers who are all passionate about making the transition happen. You can subscribe to Mission Transition and find bonus material for each episode at https://sierraclub.bc.ca/podcast. Join the clean energy conversation with @SierraClubBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.