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Carney’s Climate Contradictions with Mitchell Beer, Sept 24, 2026 Mark Carney rose to power as Canada’s 24th Prime Minister in the midst of both external and internal threats to Canadian sovereignty. Prior to becoming PM, Carney garnered a reputation as a champion of aggressive public and private climate action in support of a managed transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Since attaining power, however, Carney’s actions have led many to conclude that he has abandoned his previous climate commitments. Well has he or hasn’t he? Or, as some argue, is it more complicated than that? This PH episode features a conversation about Mark Carney’s Climate Contractions with Mitchell Beer, the editor of The Energy Mix, a go-to source of information on all things happening on the energy and climate fronts.

This episode of Planet Haliburton takes a hard look at Premier Doug Ford’s massive new $300 - $400 billion expansion of nuclear power while tax and ratepayers are still paying off the debt from the last one. That 1980s-1990s nuclear build-out came close to bankrupting Ontario Hydro, resulting in its breakup up and partial privatization. Electricity rates are already being dramatically increased as Ford passes the interest costs associated with his nuclear expansion program directly onto our electrical bills - before his new reactors even start generating power. With renewable energy costs falling to a fraction of the cost of nuclear while the climate emergency gets worse by the day, me and my guest, “Seniors for Climate Action Now SCAN!)” energy analyst, David Roberston, ask “Can We Afford Ford’s Costly Nuclear Buildout?”

Animated by advances in Earth System Science, ecosocialist researchers have been rediscovering important insights from an older ecological framework called ‘metabolic rift theory’. This theory emphasizes that all life on earth lives in a dynamic two- way relationship with the earth’s biosphere - that thin layer of living matter created by life to sustain life - that’s exhibiting such increasing signs of distress these days. To explore the underlying causes of this distress, my guest on this episode of Planet Haliburton is Ian Angus, author of the 2026 book ‘Metabolic Rifts: Capitalism’s Assault on the Earth System’. PH Resource List for “Metabolic Rifts – Capitalism’s Assault on the Earth System”, with Ian Angus, 1st Airing, July 23, 2026 Ian Angus Biographical Information: https://www.amazon.ca/stores/author/B001KIZU38/about Reviews, Excerpts and Discussion of ‘Metabolic Rifts’ • Monthly Review: https://climateandcapitalism.com/2026/03/25/metabolic-rifts- capitalisms-assault-on-the-earth-system/ • Global Ecosocialist Network: https://monthlyreview.org/april- 25th-ecosocialism-forum-to-host-ian-angus-author-of-metabolic- rifts/ • Green Left: https://www.greenleft.org.au/2026/1452/culture/metabolic-rifts-and- capitalisms-assault-earth • Canadian Dimention Magazine: “A New Reign of Climate Chaos”: https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/a-new-reign- of-climate-chaos Previous Planet Haliburton Interview with Ian Angus on “Facing the Anthropocene”: https://planethaliburton.zencast.website/episodes/capitalism-killing- the-climate-w-ian-angus

This episode looks at the growing calls for urgent Climate Change Adaptation action as the climate emergency deepens. The failure to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions has come home to roost in the form of more frequent and intense extreme weather events including increased flooding, droughts, heat domes, and wildfire with all the associated increased risk to human health and safety that entails. Jennifer Penney, a longtime health policy advocate, activist and chair of the Adaptation Working Group of Seniors for Climate action Now (SCAN!), joins me for this timely conversation.

Virtually everyone these days has a story about being forced to throw away an otherwise perfectly serviceable appliance, tool or device simply because one small part has failed. You know the line … “it’s more ‘cost-effective’ to waste it and buy new than repair it. Few of us, though, are aware of the extent to which planned obsolescence has been extended into every aspect of our lives in an era dominated by an ubiquitous, digitally-connected always on “Internet of Things”. To help shed some light on how the rise of digital mega-corporations, like Apple, Google and Meta, is linked to new forms of planned obsolescence and the production of digitally-driven waste, I’m joined by Dr. Natasha Tusikov , co-author of a 2023 book entitled “The New Knowledge: Information, Data, and The Remaking of Global Power”.

This week on Planet Haliburton, Charlie Angus, the NDP Member of Parliament for the current Federal Riding of Timmins, James Bay, which covers an area greater than a quarter of Ontario’s entire land mass is our guest. In addition to that “day job”, the Honourable Member is a practicing musician – with the iconic band The Grievous Angels - and the author of 8, soon to be 9, books. His 8th book entitled “Cobalt: The Making of a Mining Superpower”, is a fascinating look at the role his adopted home town of Cobalt, Ontario played in making Canada the world’s preeminent resource extraction superpower it is today. This interview highlights some of the key themes in Cobalt including the outrageous power and excess of wealthy mine owners and related state-sponsored attempts to steal Indigenous Lands. At the same time, Angus foregrounds the amazing level of solidarity and resistance to corporate power and colonialism put up by Indigenous People, miners and the Union they built to defend themselves. This is not the “Empire Ontario” history we were taught in school that's embedded in our national myths and the truths they hide. This is the Real Deal.

Abhilash Kantamneni (Abhi) is an Efficiency Canada research manager specializing in energy poverty and low-income energy efficiency. His community-based approach to energy efficiency, civic engagement and capacity building has earned him wide recognition including being named a ‘40 Under 40 Energy Leader’ by the Midwest Energy News and a Canada Storyteller Award by SSHRC-CRSH. Abhi has a Master of Science in Physics, and in Computer Science from Michigan Tech, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Anna University. Resource list. https://canoefm.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PH-Resource-List-for-Energy-Poverty-and-the-Climate-Emergency-Final-Mar-14-2024.pdf

This episode features a conversation about approaches to dealing the mountains of garbage being generated by our linear “Take, Make, and Waste” economy with Dr. Calvin Lakhan, Director of the “Waste Wiki Project” at York University. As calls for a “circular” economy that views “garbage” as a wasted “resource” have gained popularity, the notion of “Extended Producer Responsibility” or EPR has become a key waste management strategy. But so far EPR has failed to live up proponent claims and Ontario’s recycling rate is tanking. The question is why and what can be done about it? Issues discussed include EPR and Ontario’s Blue Box Program, incineration, “planned obsolescence’ and “The Right to Repair” movement. This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

The 28th annual UN-sponsored Climate Summit or COP28 is now history. These annual spectacles are chocked full of contradictions and there’s no shortage of controversy about was – or wasn’t - accomplished by thousands of conference delegates from close to 200 countries between November 30th and December 13th in Dubai. While the last episode of Planet Haliburton was a COP28 “Pre-Mortem”, this one is its “Post-Mortem” sequel. Mitchell Beer, the publisher of The Energy Mix, Canada’s preeminent source on climate news and opinion, returns to help take stock of the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of COP28.

2023 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record with all the consequences that holds for all life on the planet. With the 28th annual UN-sponsored “Conference of the Parties” or COP28 under the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), delegations from the 197 countries will be descending on Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), from November 30th – to December 12th. In the lead up to this year’s climate spectacle, there’s been a veritable avalanche of climate-emergency related studies and messaging in the media all competing for limited air time and attention. To help listeners get a handle on the state of the climate science and politics on the eve of COP28 as well as the key issues in contention in Dubai, Planet Haliburton invited Mitchell Beer, the publisher of The Energy Mix, Canada’s preeminent source on climate news and opinion, to join us for both pre and post-COP28 conversations.

2023 is on pace to be the hottest year in Earth’s climate record and the list of climate-driven extreme weather events and other disasters is growing by the day. The human toll has been astonishing and promises to only get much worse as warming, driven by the highest concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in at least 4 million years, continues to rise year after year. The gap between the emissions cuts climate scientists warn must happen versus those our political and economic leaders are prepared to deliver, pushes us ever closer toward climate system tipping points and hostile climate regime changes humans haven’t had to endure since the end of the last ice age, almost 12,000 years ago. This episode of Planet Haliburton focuses on the climate change risks to human health and the urgent need for emergency climate action, with Dr. Nell Thomas, a family doctor and climate activist resident in Haliburton County, Ontario.

Few issues have galvanized opposition to the Doug Ford government’s climate and environmental policies as his messing with the boundaries of the Greenbelt - despite his repeated promises not to do so. This episode of Planet Haliburton challenges Ford’s affordable housing rationale for withdrawing 7400 acres from the Greenbelt and delivering over $8 billion in increased land value to a few well-connected developers. In addition, we look Ford’s recent proposed changes to municipal planning rules and the campaigns fighting to save the Greenbelt from Doug Ford’s “Tall and Sprawl” urban agenda. The featured guest is veteran environmental activist and campaigner Franz Hartmann, executive director of the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario (ALO). Resource List link https://canoefm.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/PH-Resource-List-for-Saving-the-Greenbelt-From-Doug-Ford-and-Friends-August-2023.pdf

This episode features a conversation with Dianne Saxe, an environmental lawyer for over 50 years, who became Ontario’s 3rd (and last) independent Environmental Commissioner in 2015 with the unanimous support of all members of the Legislative Assembly. Before being fired by Premier Doug Ford in 2019, Saxe and her team produced some 17 climate, environment, and energy reports and conducted hundreds of public educational presentations. Not content to merely investigate and speak truth to power she encouraged people to become more climate change literate and engaged in the fight for the urgent changes required to protect people and the planet. In the years following Ford’s elimination of her position 2019, Saxe has taken a deep dive into electoral politics, becoming Deputy Leader of the Ontario Green Party in 2021 and a candidate for the Green Party in the Toronto riding of University/Rosedale in the 2022 provincial election. While unsuccessful provincially, Saxe won a seat on Toronto City Council representing University-Rosedale, or Ward 11, in November 2022. With her experience as an environmental lawyer, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Deputy Leader of the Ontario Green Party and now a municipal councillor in Canada’s largest city, Dianne Saxe has a unique vantage point from which to view our unfolding climate emergency and the actions required to address it. https://canoefm.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PH-Resource-List-for-From-Environmental-Commissioner-to-Toronto-City-Councillor-Perspectives-on-the-Climate-Emergency-with-Dianne-Saxe-July-27-2023.pdf

On this episode of PH we look at the impact of climate change on the Trent Severn Waterway, the risks posed by increased extreme weather events, less predictable water levels and what can be done to minimize the associated risks. Bruce McClennan, the vice chair of the Coalition for Equitable Water Flow, discuss two new videos on these issues produced by the Coalition to raise awareness and encourage active adaptation planning. The Trent Severn Waterway - TSW for short - is a 386-kilometre-long canal route connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, at Port Severn. To maintain navigation and hydro-electric power generation in the lower or navigational portion of the waterway, water is stored and released as needed in the so-called RAFT (or Reservoir and Flow Through Lakes) in Haliburton and Peterborough counties. The reservoir system is complex to manage with historic seasonal water level changes of up to 10 feet (3.4m) on some lakes combined with severe water flow bottlenecks at high flood risk locations along the way, like in the Village of Minden and City of Peterborough. The changes in the timing and amount of precipitation, as well as periods of drought that a changing climate brings, adds to the complexity of managing a system that was not primarily built for flood control.

On this episode of PH we look at the impact of climate change on the Trent Severn Waterway, the risks posed by increased extreme weather events, less predictable water levels and what can be done to minimize the associated risks. Ted Spence , the chair of the Coalition for Equitable Water Flow, discuss two new videos on these issues produced by the Coalition to raise awareness and encourage active adaptation planning. The Trent Severn Waterway - TSW for short - is a 386-kilometre-long canal route connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, at Port Severn. To maintain navigation and hydro-electric power generation in the lower or navigational portion of the waterway, water is stored and released as needed in the so-called RAFT (or Reservoir and Flow Through Lakes) in Haliburton and Peterborough counties. The reservoir system is complex to manage with historic seasonal water level changes of up to 10 feet (3.4m) on some lakes combined with severe water flow bottlenecks at high flood risk locations along the way, like in the Village of Minden and City of Peterborough. The changes in the timing and amount of precipitation, as well as periods of drought that a changing climate brings, adds to the complexity of managing a system that was not primarily built for flood control.