These are stressful times. Covid, convoys, skyrocketing rents and grocery bills, and increasingly strange and unpredictable weather\u2014all of it is enough to make some of us want to crawl back to bed and shut the world out.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But even in the muck in which we find ourselves, there\u2019s an opportunity to create a kinder, more equitable world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gestures of goodness are happening all around us, every day: people are stepping up to demand housing for those who have none; Nova Scotians recently raised thousands of dollars to help support solar installers whose livelihoods were suddenly under attack; and most of us are doing our very best to contain the spread of Covid, so that people can get their long-awaited surgeries and our kids can go to school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, I participated in a lively panel discussion hosted by the Ecology Action Centre, which explored how best to regulate Nova Scotia Power, a private utility owned by the multinational Emera Inc. Tom Webb (an expert in co-operatives) and I spoke about the need to not only better regulate the utility, but also to rethink how we get energy. It\u2019s time to ask ourselves whether Nova Scotia Power\u2019s goals are fundamentally at odds with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the environment, addressing energy poverty, and keeping the lights on (even during small storms).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n