Catholic Social Teaching and Climate

The Steering Committee and the International Support Team, behind the campaign for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty comments that just like fifty years ago, when the world used international treaties to defuse the threats posed by nuclear weapons, today, the world needs a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase out fossil fuels, support dependent economies, workers and communities to diversify away from fossil fuels, ensure 100% access to renewable energy globally and promote a just transition that leaves no-one behind.

Protecting the Environment

On 21 July 2022, a Senior Vatican Cardinal called for an international treaty that tackles the climate crisis at its source: fossil fuels. The call builds on the Vatican’s calls for fossil fuel divestment and new policies for investments in “a more just and sustainable world”.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said: “Regarding COP27, Pope Francis again joins scientists in holding to the Paris Agreement’s temperature increase goal of 1.5°C. The planet already is 1.2°C hotter, yet new fossil fuel projects every day accelerate our race towards the precipice. Enough is enough. All new exploration and production of coal, oil, and gas must immediately end, and existing production of fossil fuels must be urgently phased out. This must be a just transition for impacted workers into environmentally sound alternatives. The proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty holds great promise to complement and enhance the Paris Agreement.” (The Vatican Calls for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to Protect People and Planet, 2022)

Tony Annett tweets concerning Pope Francis' moral priorities that includes protecting the environment.

Pope Francis is clear on his moral priorities: protecting the environment, welcoming migrants and refugees, abolishing the death penalty, opposing nationalism, seeking justice for the poor. Yet many on the US Catholic right oppose all these things. This is a problem.

— Tony Annett (@tonyannett) December 24, 2022

Thomas Reese, a Senior Analyst at Religion News Service, writes that Advent should be a time of hope. As a social scientist, he has little hope. As a Christian, he must have hope. This Advent he will be praying for the conversion of hearts to an environmental mindset. He will pray that those being born in the coming year will experience the coming of Christ and not the environmental catastrophe that scientists are predicting.

“Climate change will not wait for us,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state. “Our world is now far too interdependent and cannot permit itself to be structured into unsustainable isolated blocks of countries. This is a time for international and intergenerational solidarity. We need to be responsible, courageous and forward-looking not just for ourselves, but for our children.”

“Our political will,” said the Vatican’s top official, “should be guided by the awareness that either we win together or we lose together.”

Pope Francis was outspoken about environmental issues in his encyclical “Laudato Si.” He was not the first pope to have these concerns. Pope Benedict XVI was referred to as the “green pope” after he had solar panels installed on the roof of the papal audience hall. Both liberal and conservative Catholics should unite in following these popes’ directions in responding to climate change.(Reese, 2022).

The global momentum around the proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty means that three pillars of the policy proposal are now supported by 101 Nobel laureates, 3,000 academics, a growing interfaith group of religious leaders, 320 parliamentarians, thousands of youth activists, more than 1,500 civil society organizations and over 60 cities including London, Paris, Amsterdam, Sydney, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Toronto and Geneva. Let’s join Pope Francis in the assertion that “enough is enough” and respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor presented in the Laudato Si encyclical. 

References

Reese, T. (2022, November 28). In Advent, we hope and wait. Climate change doesn't lend itself to either. Religion News Service. Retrieved December 29, 2022, from https://religionnews.com/2022/11/28/advent-and-global-warming/ 

The Vatican calls for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to protect people and planet. (2022, July 21). The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://fossilfueltreaty.org/vatican 

Power Politics Planet

The recent announcement by Nova Scotia Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton concerning an increase in electricity generation by using biomass is being received as good news by members of Forest Nova Scotia and as a terrible decision by Ecology Action Centre personnel.

Common Ground in Biodiversity

Bob Bancroft, President, Nature Nova Scotia, writes that biomass is currently being used to produce electricity in two locations in Nova Scotia. Other biomass plants are also being planned or built. 

The laws of thermodynamics make the conversion of wood to electricity very inefficient – in the Point Tupper case, Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI) projected a 21.5% electrical efficiency with relatively dry wood. In fact, their wood is kept outside, uncovered and wet, so efficiencies may be lower.

The Point Tupper biomass plant is too large. It is being fed by 50–60 tractor trailer loads of wood daily, for a total of about 650,000 tonnes annually, or roughly 100 “wet tonnes” per hour.

Operating the Point Tupper biomass plant is costing NSPI ratepayers an extra $6–8 million a year.1 This is due in part to “must run” stipulations that force NSPI to supply heat for operating the pulp mill next door. This amounts to another Port Hawkesbury Paper subsidy and a violation of the US-Canada trade agreement. NSPI is forced to operate the biomass plant when cheaper energy sources, like natural gas or Quebec hydro, are available and savings could be passed along to customers. (Bancroft, n.d.)

Michael Gorman of CBC News reports that Nova Scotia Power will use more biomass to generate electricity for the next three years, under regulatory changes by the province that are angering environmentalists and being lauded by the forestry industry.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton said biomass is a resource that can be used at a time when fossil fuel prices remain volatile, until more wind and solar projects are ready to come online.

Rushton said sawmills around the province have lots of wood chips and other byproducts from forestry operations that can be used to meet the new requirements. It also provides a destination for waste wood still in forests following post-tropical storm Fiona, said Rushton.

The regulations prohibit cutting whole trees to generate electricity and only allow products left over from sustainable timber harvest and primary processing to be used.

"What I see is a renewable resource that we have sitting in our province right now, with biomass that can certainly assist Nova Scotia Power with meeting their renewable targets," Rushton said in an interview. (Gorman, 2022)

Jennifer Henderson, reporting for the Halifax Examiner, on a decision by the Houston government in Nova Scotia, to establish a new regulation that requires Nova Scotia Power to generate at least 153,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year from biomass for the next three years.

 

Renewable Energy Minister Tory Rushton defended the move to burn more biomass.

“For us, this is about putting more renewable energy on the system for a short period of time until we can establish more hydro and wind for the long-term,” said Rushton. “ I’m also the minister responsible for Natural Resources so I know there’s no longer a market for pulpwood since Northern Pulp closed. And the residual wood left on the ground after hurricane Fiona creates an opportunity to have money paid for that wood to stay in the province.” 

Ray Plourde, senior wilderness coordinator for the Ecology Action Centre, comments that “This is a really terrible announcement for the environment, a disaster for the atmosphere and for biodiversity,”

The government pretends that burning forest biomass is magically non-carbon emitting based on a fantasy theory that in 100 years, the carbon will be re-absorbed by future trees that may or may not grow, so they don’t need to count biomass emissions at all.

But we don’t have 100 years to wait for that to happen and there is no guarantee that it will.

Biomass is not a climate solution, but it’s being embraced by our government in policy and practice because it’s easy to do (burn trees instead of coal) and it helps the forestry sector with a glut of so called ‘waste wood.’ Its significant negative impacts on the climate and biodiversity are conveniently ignored. It’s a farce, a sick joke at a time when we need real climate solutions. (Henderson, 2022)

The demands of power, politics, and the planet are in tension again when biomass is used as a fuel to generate electricity.

References

Bancroft, B. (n.d.). Nova Scotia Biomass Power Generation. Nature Nova Scotia. Retrieved December 20, 2022, from https://naturens.ca/projects/biomass-energy/ 

Gorman, M. (2022, December 19). Province orders Nova Scotia Power to use biomass to generate electricity. CBC. Retrieved December 20, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/biomass-forestry-electricity-nova-scotia-power-tory-rushton-1.6691389 

Henderson, J. (2022, December 20). 'A farce, a sick joke': Nova Scotia amps up burning of biomass for electricity. Halifax Examiner. Retrieved December 20, 2022, from https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/economy/natural-resources/forestry/a-farce-a-sick-joke-nova-scotia-amps-up-burning-of-biomass-for-electricity/ 

Primary care in Canada is in crisis

The Canadian Health Care system is viewed by many to be in a state of crisis. One area of stress involves timely access to primary health care. The CMAJ, (Canadian Medical Association Journal), published a commentary by Tara Kiran that proposes steps that can be taken to ensure access to primary care in Canada. The article is written around several key points.

Health Care Action Plan

Larger family physician workforce needed if primary care is not changed

Interprofessional team-based care to improve primary care 

Payment reform to improve access, outcomes, provider well-being

Neighbourhood-based clinics that employ physicians accountable to the local population

Regionally organized after-hours care to obviate the need for walk-in clinics

Canada’s health systems needs to reimagine how family doctors work and are integrated into the system. All family physicians should work collaboratively in teams that include skilled office assistants and nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers and pharmacists. Team-based care is better for patients, clinicians and the system. Our research in Ontario found that patients of team-based practices were more likely to get recommended chronic condition care and less likely to use the emergency department. Sharing the care in a team can also enhance joy in work for clinicians and, when done right, could increase the number of patients a family physician can care for. Similar primary-care workforce challenges have led thought leaders in the United States and United Kingdom to call for expansion of interprofessional teams as part of the solution.  A recent survey of family physicians in British Columbia found that physicians ranked options to be in a team and direct funding for team roles as priorities for primary care reform. Team members with different expertise are especially critical as patient complexity and disease comorbidity trend upward. (Kiran, 2022)

The Nova Scotia Health Authority provides health services to Nova Scotians and some specialized services to Maritimers and Atlantic Canadians. It operates hospitals, health centres and community-based programs across the province. The team of health professionals includes employees, doctors, researchers, learners and volunteers that provide the health care or services, including primary health care.

You may have heard discussion of family practice teams. This is an approach where not all of your primary care comes from your doctor. Instead, your doctor is part of a team that could include a nurse practitioner, family practice nurse,  social worker, dietitian,  physiotherapist, or a range of other health professionals.

As a patient of a family practice team,  you can get support from the person with the right skills to meet your needs. And with several professionals available to support patients, a team can take on more patients and provide quicker access.

As we work to attract and hire new doctors, we’re hearing from them that working in a team matches what they want to do—working  and learning from colleagues, spending time with the patients who need them most, and drawing on the different skills of others to provide the best support to keep patients well.

There are a number of these teams already in the province, and we are working to create more, by adding nurses and other health care providers to existing family practices to work with doctors. Following this team-based approach will help Nova Scotians see the benefits that people in other parts of Canada and around the world are enjoying, including better care for patients, more satisfaction for providers, and improved overall quality and functioning of the whole health care system. (About Primary Health Care, n.d.)

Marsha Lederman and the Editorial Board of the Globe and Mail comments that Ottawa should say no to the request from the provinces for a blank cheque.

In that light, Ottawa’s position that ties new funding to a national health data system makes sense. So does its push for goals in key areas of reform, including family health and long-term care. Such a system need not be run by Ottawa. The Canadian Institute for Health Information could administer the data system, avoiding any intimation that the provinces require the supervision of the federal Liberals. (Lederman, 2022)

The continued support for provincial health care budgets by the federal government is essential. The citizens of Canada deserve clear plans to use these funds to increase access to primary care by transformation to community based interprofessional health care teams.

References

About Primary Health Care. (n.d.). Nova Scotia Health Authority. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.nshealth.ca/about-primary-health-care 

Kiran, T. (2022, December 12). Keeping the front door open: ensuring access to primary care for all in Canada. CMAJ. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://www.cmaj.ca/content/194/48/E1655 

Lederman, M. (2022, December 14). Globe editorial: Provinces want a blank cheque for health care. Ottawa should say no. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-provinces-want-a-blank-cheque-for-health-care-ottawa-should-say-no/ 

Virtual Health Care Concerns

Alex Cooke of Global News reports on the concerns of Doctors Nova Scotia president, Dr. Leisha Hawker that includes recruitment, retention, and primary care.

Virtual Health Concerns

“Primary care is the foundation of the health-care system, and right now that foundation’s not very strong,” Hawker told Global News.

Hawker believes virtual care is here to stay, but due to it being basically “started overnight” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic “without much planning,” now is the time to further solidify its role in the health-care system.

“So the key now is to really start planning: how does it work best? What scenarios … are best suited for virtual care, versus what problems really should be dealt with in person?”(Cooke, 2022)

Dr. Leisha Hawker works at the North End Community Health Centre. She comments that it is a “really good model” for collaborative health that focuses on the specific needs of the community.

“We have community engagement asking our patients and those in the neighbourhood what this community needs, and we start working on developing those programs,” she said.

“So if we had a community health centre in Digby, or Yarmouth, or somewhere else, they might not need the same program that our community in the north end of Halifax needs, but that’s the key to a collaborative community health centre – it can be unique to that individual community.” (Cooke, 2022)

Lyndsay Armstrong in reporting for the Canadian Press notes Brendan Elliot, a spokesman for Nova Scotia Health, said in an email that there are between 150 and 200 virtual visits available on a typical weekday, available to the 120,400 people in the province without a family doctor. He acknowledged that demand is high and said the province is trying to recruit more doctors and nurses to take part.

Zen Tharani, founder and CEO of Vancouver-based digital consulting firm Xenex Consulting Inc., said in an interview that challenges are expected in the early stage of virtual care implementation, but a bottleneck at the booking stage is a problem.

“It really defeats the purpose” of virtual care, which should be increasing access to medical care and improving the patient experience, he said.

Tharani said it’s very positive to see that provinces are using virtual care to fill in some of the gaps caused by a shortage of primary care providers, and agrees that limits should be removed from virtual care whenever possible.

“Why would you want to put limitations on innovation and accessibility in that way?” he asked.

Tharani said that while virtual care does not work for everything, there’s potential to use it strategically to increase efficiency in pre- and post-operative care, emergency medicine and mental health care. (Armstrong, 2022)

Jean Laroche of CBC News reports that Nova Scotia NDP leader, Claudia Chender, is worried that patients who can't get a free primary medical appointment will pay to get one.

Chender says people who cannot get a free government appointment are just a few computer clicks away from accessing Maple's for-profit platform which boasts users can "see a doctor in minutes."

"You know, you can either get it for free through the Nova Scotia government in theory, although most people can't actually access it, or you can pay Maple," said Chender. "And you know, when we talk about privatization, this isn't an abstract conversation.

"If someone needs to see a doctor, they need to see a doctor. And if they have $20, they're going to pay, and if they don't have $20, they're not going to see a doctor." (Laroche, n.d.)

The initial experiences in virtual primary care point to some health care scenarios that can improve response to patient needs even as the proximity of government paid service to private and possibly more responsive service threatens to prefer ability to pay over need.

References

Armstrong, L. (2022, December 7). Billed as remedy for doctor shortage, virtual medicine in N.S. hits bottleneck | Globalnews.ca. Global News. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://globalnews.ca/news/9331307/ns-virtual-medicine-bottleneck/ 

Cooke, A. (2022, June 6). New Doctors N.S. president on burnout, backlogs and embracing virtual care - Halifax | Globalnews.ca. Global News. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://globalnews.ca/news/8900462/doctors-ns-new-president-2022/ 

Laroche, J. (n.d.). CBC News - Latest Canada, World, Entertainment and Business News. CBC. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/virtual-care-doctors-nurse-practitioners-maple-1.6679451?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar 

Capitalism Coal and Carbon Emissions

Tynette Deveaux of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Atlantic campaign, reporting to the National Observer, calls the approval to continue running until 2029 for Canada’s only underground coal mine  “a sad day for Nova Scotia” and she said it’s accentuated by a new employee of Kameron Coal — former Glace Bay MLA Geoff MacLellan.

Plan to stop using coal

In my youth in Glace Bay, in the 1950’s, “Coal was King” and in nearby Sydney, my grandfather was one of thousands working in the steel plant for one of the three daily shifts. The “black around the eye” (and in the lungs) showed the face of a steady job and the cloud of carcinogens that propelled skyward from the coke ovens as the coal was prepared to catalyze the production of steel emitted “the smell of money”.

The Nova Scotia Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration has recently approved the reopening plan of Kameron Coal, in Donkin, a 20 minute drive from Glace Bay. The Donkin coal mine got the industrial green light to continue running until 2029 from the provincial government’s Environment and Climate Change department.

A new report assessing climate risks across Nova Scotia from the provincial Department of Environment and Climate Change, entitled, Weathering What’s Ahead: Climate Change Risk and Nova Scotia’s Well-being notes that “using oil, coal, and natural gas to heat homes, generate electricity, and fuel vehicles” contributes to climate change and will worsen climate impacts. As of now, over half of the electricity generation in Nova Scotia comes from coal. (Logan & Ottenhof, 2022)

The former MLA for Glace Bay, Geoff MacLellan now works for the company, which he vocally supported during his time in government. 

Referring to coal from the Donkin mine, he told The Canadian Press in 2017 “we're going to produce it for as long as we can." (Logan & Ottenhof, 2022)

The product of Kameron Coal is metallurgical coal that is converted to coke for steel production. Carbon Clean's Dr James Hall discusses how the steel industry can prepare for net zero and reduce its CO2 emissions with CCUS technology.

The amount of CO2 emissions from steel manufacturing is almost double the amount of steel created: 1.85 tonnes of carbon per 1 tonne of steel. If steel were a nation, it would be the 5th largest producer of carbon emissions in the world! 

The future of the steel industry needs to include a plan that utilises carbon capture technology (CCUS) to reduce fossil fuel carbon emissions and cut the carbon footprint of steel. (Cleaning Up The Steel Industry: Reducing CO2 Emissions With CCUS, 2021)

As part of Our Climate, Our Future Nova Scotia’s Climate Change Plan for Clean Growth the Department of Environment and Climate Change has measured how the climate change plan will impact greenhouse gas emissions in Nova Scotia. The projected pathway to 2030 includes policies like phasing out coal-fired electricity generation, having 80 percent of electricity come from renewable sources, reducing our reliance on oil for home heating by at least 20 per cent, and having 30 percent of new vehicle sales be zero-emission vehicles by 2030.

Two serious problems associated with Kameron Coal remain. The majority of emissions caused by the coal mined at the Donkln mine will occur when the coal is used to manufacture steel. This will likely occur at a steel mill outside of Canada. This transfer of the GHG emission problem to the end user is a denial of the responsibility to put the welfare of the planet ahead of short term profit. The process of steelmaking will need to be transformed to reduce the demand for metallurgical coal and consequently reduce the market for Kameron Coal and lead to the abandonment of the operation and the layoff of people. The cycle of foreign owned companies exploiting Nova Scotian workers in sunset industries continues. The transformation of electricity generation and distribution, transportation and agriculture in Nova Scotia will require thousands of skilled workers. Investment now in the training for these careers is the plan that will provide a future that is not connected to an industry that is in decline.

References

Cleaning Up The Steel Industry: Reducing CO2 Emissions with CCUS. (2021, January 28). Carbon Clean. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://www.carbonclean.com/blog/steel-co2-emissions 

Logan, C., & Ottenhof, L. (2022, December 2). Kameron Coal hires former N.S. MLA and gets approval to operate Donkin mine until 2029. National Observer. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/12/02/news/kameron-coal-hires-former-ns-mla-approval-operate-donkin-mine-until-2029 

Logan, C., & Ottenhof, L. (2022, December 5). Sea levels in Nova Scotia set to rise by a metre this century. National Observer. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/12/05/news/sea-levels-nova-scotia-rise-metre-century