Clay Steell

BC Residents May Have to Cover a Property Tax Break for Pipelines | The Tyee After lobbying, BC Assessment slashed its appraisals of the industry’s infrastructure.

Yikes. BC Residents May Have to Cover a Property Tax Break for Pipelines.

You know, because these fossil fuel corporations don't get to make enough profit on the basis of public/Indigenous land & resources. via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2025/10...

Check out our new methods paper for automated length and body shape measurements in animals!

Welfare cuts have fuelled rise of far right and populism, top UN expert says Exclusive: Poverty rapporteur says governments must rethink welfare state as essential to fabric of society

"Politicians from centre-right and centre-left parties alike had steadily eroded social programmes, fostering a sense of scarcity and creating fertile ground for the stirring up of anti-migrant sentiment, said Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights." #UBI

'Jamaica Will Be Unrecognizable After This': Hurricane Melissa Erupts Into Category 5 'Monster' | Common Dreams One hurricane historian said the world is "witnessing history on satellite right now" as the people of Jamaica came under evacuation orders and braced for impact of a storm that threatens severe flood...

“Hurricane Melissa could be one of the most intense & devastating hurricanes on record for Jamaica, & it’s rapidly becoming a textbook example of how climate change is making hurricanes more dangerous,” —Katharine Hayhoe, professor of climate science. www.commondreams.org/news/jamaica...

The eye wall of #Melissa is now moving onshore. It’s an extremely dangerous storm, having maintained its peak intensity of 175 mph, Gusts 215, and pressure of 901mb.
If it makes landfall at 900mb it would be a top three most intense landfalls in the Atlantic Basin.
My thoughts are with #Jamaica

The CO2 extractors: British Columbians are among world's most aggressive They rocketed past the Americans decades ago. Now they are set to blow past even the Saudis with a massive new LNG industry – in charts.

Recommended piece here by @bsaxifrage.bsky.social.
Not the kind of analysis that should make BCers proud:
"British Columbians are aiming to shoot past even the Saudis in CO2 extraction per person."

The CO2 extractors: BC is among world's most aggressive www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/22/a...

For #PhycologyFriday, some kelp-as-habitat appreciation from a recent night dive here on WSANEC territory (Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island). Was fun to see these more nocturnal species, Sailfin Sculpin and Helmet Crab, hiding in beds of Saccharina and Neoagarum!

Once again highlighting a key asymmetry in politics:

If you are boosting oil and gas, you can basically say whatever you want that fits the moment. Follow up is cancel culture

If you're advocating for anything else, you must be 100% accurate at all times or it will be used to discredit you forever

Now I’m thinking abt how many public servants, scientists, engineers, & land/water defenders I know across Canada who are working on actual climate solutions & NOT getting paid $700,000/years. Doing this work can be really crazy-making while Canadian leaders refusing to give up being a petro-state!

Props to @woodsideful.bsky.social for applying journalistic rigour to this bafflingly stupid statement by this former pipeline CEO we’re paying $700,000/year from public coffers, apparently 🤡

For #PhycologyFriday, here’s a funky Bull Kelp bulb sent to me by a friend in Ucluelet. Anyone know what causes this to happen? Never seen one like this before
#kelp

For #PhycologyFriday, a topside view of a beautiful little bull kelp forest here in Huu-ay-aht territory, western Vancouver Island 🌊 #kelp #kelpforest

Report suggests arms still flow from Canada to Israel despite denials | CBC News The government of Canada is adamant — with certain, shifting caveats — that it has not allowed arms shipments to Israel since January 2024, and yet Israeli import data and publicly available shipping ...

Report suggests arms still flow from Canada to Israel despite denials

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Ebikes are not just bikes with a motor and battery. They are a new form of transportation

“Our results reject nesting electric with conventional bicycles, underscoring their distinct characteristics and minimal shared unobserved attributes”

Worth calling attention to here is thefinding that plying the world with fossil fuels carries significant legal and financial risk. It opens the door to Canada being take to court to pay climate reparations.

For the people who say Canada is 2% of emissions, nbd... let's dive into the numbers

Iconic whitefish on edge of collapse as Great Lakes biodiversity crisis deepens | Bridge Michigan Few fish are as synonymous with Michigan as whitefish. Pushed to the edge by invasive species, their struggle is the tip of a cataclysmic species collapse that could change our way of life.

Quote: "Invasive mussels at the bottom of the lakes have filtered away microorganisms, leaving behind crystal-clear waters that are a veritable desert for whitefish."

Quagga mussels have siphoned off energy from the food web, leaving planktivorous fish to go hungry.
www.bridgemi.com/michigan-env...

Lol. Lmfao, even.

Hard as it is to feel hopeful abt international law as we watch states breaking it down to uphold Israel’s genocide in Palestine, it seems that even the cynical read is that this ruling could have substantive impacts. Nice to see petrostate govs like Canada’s take an L!

Underground mine where workers trapped was on BC fast-track list Three miners are trapped in an underground refuge station following a collapse. The Red Chris mine's underground section was on BC Premier David Eby's list of projects to fast-track under Bill 15.

The BC government considered "fast-tracking" the northern BC mine where three miners are currently trapped underground. Premier David Eby listed the mine’s underground expansion under Bill 15, the province's controversial new law to override regulations because of Trump's tariff war.

My #scicomm skills are clearly a bit rusty after a yearslong twitter hiatus, I forgot to include the link to this paper! Find it here if you'd like to read more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#kelp

Forgot to hit “post” on this yday, this work was led by Dr. Lauren Dykman & coauthored by myself, Dr. Jordan Bemmels, @gregowens.bsky.social, Grace Melchers, @scuba-timmer.bsky.social, @cneufeld.bsky.social, & @baumlab.bsky.social! Was grateful to work alongside this stellar team of scientists

Thrilled to share this new paper from our 2023 #kelp restoration study! We used Giant Kelp #GreenGravel for a reciprocal transplant experiment, & found limited evidence for local adaptation along a small-scale thermal gradient. It was our 1st outplanting, many lessons learned!
#PhycologyFriday

Impacts of marine heatwaves on biodiversity and ecosystem services: our new paper in Nature Reviews Biodiversity is out!
doi.org/10.1038/s443.... @natrevbiodiv.nature.com @uwaoceans.bsky.social @filbeek.bsky.social @dansmale1.bsky.social

Canada needs to follow through on its promise to help people in Gaza Ottawa’s ‘special measures’ visa program for Gaza has so far proved to be little more than a cruel taunt

Canada says it's a refuge. It has dangled only false hopes to Palestinians seeking to study here after Israel bombed their universities, or who have applied to be reunited with family.

I co-wrote this piece with Deborah Cowen, Kyo Maclear and Madeleine Thien www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/7a8fbe1...

A New 3D Map Shows Precipitous Decline of Ugandan Glaciers - Eos A team of dozens spent weeks in the Rwenzori Mountains capturing drone photography, GPS coordinates, and ground-penetrating radar data to document glacial retreat.

Did you know there are glaciers in Uganda? They may not be around for much longer.

buff.ly/lSsbFxM

Read more in our July issue, out now: bit.ly/Eos-Jul2025

We really hate to see Canada’s new gov doubling down on this trajectory too 🤡

Scientists Are Tracking Worrying Declines in Insects—and the Birds That Feast on Them. Here's What's Being Done to Save Them Both In Vermont, researchers have investigated the types of creepy, crawly bugs that their avian predators consume and may have found the answers to keeping them both alive

Great article on the rippling effects of ongoing insect declines.

"People may not be motivated to save the insects for their own sake, but a world without insects is a world without birds. It’s a world where nature offers no song to the rising sun."

🪲🪳🐦 🌎

www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

A very extreme and unusual presentation of pink-spot disease on a kelp spool

For this #PhycologyFriday I'm happy to share my ✨new paper✨ about #kelp disease -> rdcu.be/ets28

Pink-spot disease occurs in kelp nurseries across North America and Europe according to our survey and we identified a bacteria (Algicola sp.) as the likely causative agent.

🦑 #aquaculture

For #PhycologyFriday, some pics (right) from a fun freedive this week on the Giant Kelp #GreenGravel I cultured this winter (left), outplanted for #kelpforest #restoration in Huu-ay-aht territory! Visibility was terrible, but was excited to see some reaching 3+ meters long 🥲 #kelp

"Nation building" doesn't have to come at the expense of the environment. Our calls to #FixBillC5 have led to improvements but there’s still work ahead to get it right. Add your voice and send a letter today ➡ wcel.org/blog/stop-ca... #cdnpoli