Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Journalist | Vancouver |
English
French
About Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson is a reporter and writer covering food systems, climate, disinformation, and plastics and the environment for Canada’s National Observer.
His ongoing investigations of the plastic industry in Canada won him a Webster Award's nomination in environmental reporting in 2021. He was also a nominee for a Canadian Association of Journalists's award for his reporting on disinformation.
Marc has previously written for High Country News, the Literary Review of Canada, and other publications on topics exploring relationships between people and their social and physical environments.
He holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of British Columbia and a B.A. in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic.
Danielle Smith picks new fight with the feds
The Alberta premier has picked a new fight with the federal government over a proposed program to help industrial feedlots meet climate targets that will not even apply in her province.
Feds slash support for northern hunters and fishers
Federal support for Indigenous hunters and fishers tackling food insecurity in northern communities is poised to fall by 80 per cent. The decision comes as the government continues to pour millions into a subsidy program researchers say is lining grocers' pockets without providing adequate food to those most in need.
The storm of climate disinformation
For the past few months, Canadians have been banned from sharing news articles on Facebook and Instagram, places where many people turned for information.
Canada’s new greenwashing rules still aren’t strong enough
Social media feeds have been bombarded with ads touting efforts by gas utilities to capture so-called "renewable natural gas" produced from decomposing organic waste. From B.C. to Quebec, the ads suggest measures to phase out gas aren't needed because gas from landfills and manure pits will soon heat millions of homes.
The Quebec town trying to spell the end of natural gas
Almost immediately after the town of Prévost, Que., passed a bylaw banning natural gas this autumn, the 12,000-person community was hit with a lawsuit from Quebec's gas utility, Énergir.
Cities lead the way on climate-friendly food
Cities, towns, and regional governments outshine their national counterparts when reducing food emissions. In fact, municipalities are poised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions almost 35 per cent more than countries, say researchers.
One man’s single-handed fight against Alberta’s climate spin
Denis Lemire did not plan to become an online troll. But after Alberta's UCP government infiltrated everything from his morning commute to the ads on his favourite podcasts with "blatant misinformation," the father of three said he felt impelled to act.
Swimming for salmon in the backwoods
On a rare sunny late October day, a quartet of swimmers gathered around a deep pool on the Tranquil River in Clayoquot Sound ready to immerse themselves in the frigid water with hundreds of huge salmon swimming upstream to spawn.
Is Canada’s plastics ban gone? Not quite
A Federal Court decision that quashed the legal foundations of Canada's plastic regulations might not spell the end of the government's efforts to tackle the plastic pollution problem, observers say.
Canada is ‘among the worst’ for pesticide rules
Canada falls behind nearly 90 per cent of countries in the world when it comes to banning harmful pesticides, including the European Union and Brazil.