The May 5 edition of the Vancouver Sun offers a mother lode of environmental news—edited by “the man most Canadian women said they’d choose to be with on a deserted island”—David Suzuki.
There are numerous, numerous stories—from the BC government’s disputed record on climate change, to a Vancouver suburb’s contest to become the no. 1 clean-energy city in the province, to venerable BC writer Stephen Hume’s Great Moments in BC Environmental History—clip this one and pin it to your cubicle wall for inspiration.
The Vancouver Sun’s web site, however, is rather disorganized and hard to navigate. To avoid a headache, I suggest scavenging a print version or just ordering a copy from the Sun’s circulation department.
Suzuki has no equivalent in the U.S. He’s an environmental star. The Vancouver-based scientist and writer spent part of his childhood in an internment camp for Japanese-Canadians in the BC Kootenays. He went on to earn degrees from Amherst and the University of Chicago, and then returned home to teach genetics at the University of British Columbia. Many thirtysomething Canadians grew up watching his documentary televison series on CBC, The Nature of Things, which continues to run. In 1990, Suzuki founded his own non-profit, the Vancouver-based David Suzuki Foundation, to further educate the public about environmental concerns. He’s sort of like Mr. Rogers meets Carl Sagan meets Al Gore meets Ralph Nader. … Well, nevermind. Just trust me. When I moved to Canada in 2001, people were floored when I said I didn’t know who he was …
Last week, the Sunday Washington Post profiled Suzuki, with a bit on his most recent accomplishments.
