‘Schitt’s Creek’: Where ‘Jews of no religion,’ facing exile, find redemption: Schitt’s Creek has won 102 awards, including a sweep of the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards and 2021 Canadian Screen Awards for comedy. The cast has been lauded for their superb, on-point performances.

The show has also been recognized for its deft handling of a range of identity issues, particularly LGBTQ+ relationships, pansexuality, socio-economic class and Canadian-ness.

Yet Schitt’s Creek, co-created by real-life father-son duo Eugene and Daniel Levy,
is also fundamentally about Jewish identity. Critics who ignore or
simply miss the Jewishness of the characters fail to appreciate this key
aspect of the show’s inclusive reach and appeal to diverse viewers. 

‘Schitt’s Creek’: Where ‘Jews of no religion,’ facing exile, find redemption: Schitt’s Creek has won 102 awards, including a sweep of the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards and 2021 Canadian Screen Awards for comedy. The cast has been lauded for their superb, on-point performances.The show has also been recognized for its deft handling of a range of identity issues, particularly LGBTQ+ relationships, pansexuality, socio-economic class and Canadian-ness.Yet Schitt’s Creek, co-created by real-life father-son duo Eugene and Daniel Levy,
is also fundamentally about Jewish identity. Critics who ignore or
simply miss the Jewishness of the characters fail to appreciate this key
aspect of the show’s inclusive reach and appeal to diverse viewers. Read More

Scientists convert used plastic bottles into vanilla flavouring: Upcycling plastic bottles into more lucrative
materials could make the recycling process far more attractive and
effective. Currently plastics lose about 95% of their value as a
material after a single use. Encouraging better collection and use of
such waste is key to tackling the global plastic pollution problem.

Researchers have already developed mutant enzymes to break down
the polyethylene terephthalate polymer used for drinks bottles into its
basic units, terephthalic acid (TA). Scientists have now used bugs to
convert TA into vanillin.

Vanillin is used
widely in the food and cosmetics industries and is an important bulk
chemical used to make pharmaceuticals, cleaning products and herbicides.
Global demand is growing and in 2018 was 37,000 tonnes, far exceeding
the supply from natural vanilla beans. About 85% of vanillin is
currently synthesised from chemicals derived from fossil fuels.

Scientists convert used plastic bottles into vanilla flavouring: Upcycling plastic bottles into more lucrative
materials could make the recycling process far more attractive and
effective. Currently plastics lose about 95% of their value as a
material after a single use. Encouraging better collection and use of
such waste is key to tackling the global plastic pollution problem.Researchers have already developed mutant enzymes to break down
the polyethylene terephthalate polymer used for drinks bottles into its
basic units, terephthalic acid (TA). Scientists have now used bugs to
convert TA into vanillin.Vanillin is used
widely in the food and cosmetics industries and is an important bulk
chemical used to make pharmaceuticals, cleaning products and herbicides.
Global demand is growing and in 2018 was 37,000 tonnes, far exceeding
the supply from natural vanilla beans. About 85% of vanillin is
currently synthesised from chemicals derived from fossil fuels.Read More

No Change in Fossil Fuel Use Despite Growth of Renewables – The Energy Mix: The world is recording tremendous growth of renewable energy in the electricity sector, but its share of total final energy consumption (TFEC) continues to increase only moderately and still isn’t making a dent in global fossil fuel consumption, according to the Renewables 2021 Global Status Report (REN21).

“We are waking up to the bitter reality that the climate policy promises over the past 10 years have mostly been empty words,” said REN21 Executive Director Rana Adib. “The share of fossil fuels in final energy consumption has not moved by an inch.”

“The world is burning more fossil fuels than ever,” the report notes, and the share of fossil fuels has “barely changed over one decade.” Global energy demand grew almost 20%, from 320 to 381 exajoules, and modern renewables accounted for only 25% of that growth, with the balance coming from fossils, nuclear, and traditional biomass.

No Change in Fossil Fuel Use Despite Growth of Renewables – The Energy Mix: The world is recording tremendous growth of renewable energy in the electricity sector, but its share of total final energy consumption (TFEC) continues to increase only moderately and still isn’t making a dent in global fossil fuel consumption, according to the Renewables 2021 Global Status Report (REN21).“We are waking up to the bitter reality that the climate policy promises over the past 10 years have mostly been empty words,” said REN21 Executive Director Rana Adib. “The share of fossil fuels in final energy consumption has not moved by an inch.”“The world is burning more fossil fuels than ever,” the report notes, and the share of fossil fuels has “barely changed over one decade.” Global energy demand grew almost 20%, from 320 to 381 exajoules, and modern renewables accounted for only 25% of that growth, with the balance coming from fossils, nuclear, and traditional biomass.Read More

Scotiabank Doesn’t Just Fund Billions In Fossil Fuels – It Funds Anti-Climate Lobbying – Environmental Defence: among the big 5, Scotiabank stands out as funding anti-climate lobbying in Canada by being the only big bank that has an Associate Membership in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

We’ve written before about how CAPP lobbies against climate action in Canada, including trying to take advantage of COVID to advocate for environmental rollbacks. Even French oil giant Total withdrew from CAPP, citing a “misalignment” between the organization’s public positions and those of Total.

Scotiabank Doesn’t Just Fund Billions In Fossil Fuels – It Funds Anti-Climate Lobbying – Environmental Defence: among the big 5, Scotiabank stands out as funding anti-climate lobbying in Canada by being the only big bank that has an Associate Membership in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).We’ve written before about how CAPP lobbies against climate action in Canada, including trying to take advantage of COVID to advocate for environmental rollbacks. Even French oil giant Total withdrew from CAPP, citing a “misalignment” between the organization’s public positions and those of Total.Read More

Only quick shift to ‘net zero’ emissions will boost GDP: report: “If these changes occur in an orderly fashion, the scenarios suggest that it could lead to some increase in global GDP, and lower unemployment relative to prior trends,” the NGFS said.

“If the transition fails, analysis from the NGFS scenarios suggest that up to 13% of global GDP would be at risk by the end of the century, even before accounting for the potential consequences of severe weather events,” it added.

But to get to net zero by 2050, a $160 per tonne carbon price – or equivalent “shadow price” – would need to be steadily introduced by the end of the decade, which will push up inflation and also raise unemployment in some countries with energy-intensive industries.

Only quick shift to ‘net zero’ emissions will boost GDP: report: “If these changes occur in an orderly fashion, the scenarios suggest that it could lead to some increase in global GDP, and lower unemployment relative to prior trends,” the NGFS said.“If the transition fails, analysis from the NGFS scenarios suggest that up to 13% of global GDP would be at risk by the end of the century, even before accounting for the potential consequences of severe weather events,” it added.But to get to net zero by 2050, a $160 per tonne carbon price – or equivalent “shadow price” – would need to be steadily introduced by the end of the decade, which will push up inflation and also raise unemployment in some countries with energy-intensive industries.Read More