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B.C.
on the wrong side of the oilsands issue
April 30, 2010
Gillian McEachern and Simon Mui,
Special to Times Colonist
British Columbia is emerging as a key
pawn in a global oilsands chess game. The stakes are huge, and
unfortunately B.C. is so far playing for the wrong side.
This
week we released the first analysis of B.C.'s new fuel initiative -- the
one that was supposed to reduce the "life cycle" global warming impact
of the fuel that you put in your gas tank. "Life cycle" means accounting
for all the carbon pollution created by producing and burning the fuel.
more
It’s
time for high finance to come to the rescue
April 29, 2010
Alice Klein, NOW Magazine
As
grassroots NGOs get their lobbying smarts in gear for the June 20 G20
Summit, set to unfold just minutes from where I sit writing this, a
hefty number from around the world will be focusing on the so-called
Robin Hood tax that made its way into the headlines earlier this week. more
WWF to PM: Will Climate be
on the G8 Agenda?
April
29, 2010
WWF Canada
Yesterday, the International
Development Ministers wrapped up their meetings in Halifax in
preparation for the G8 Summit and yet again, there were no discussions
on climate change and how countries will meet their financing targets
agreed to in the Copenhagen Accord. As the days count down until the G8
Summit, WWF worries that climate may not make the agenda at all. more.
Blog:
Robin Hood and the Great Vampire Squid: Still no G8 climate action
April 27, 2010
Dave Martin,
Greenpeace Canada
In preparation for the upcoming June 2010 G8
meeting in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada’s Minister of International
Cooperation, Bev Oda, met with other G8 development ministers in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, April 26-28, 2010. Greenpeace and other
environmental groups want the G8 and G20 to take action on climate
change. more
New
Analysis Shows BC’s Fuel Standard Sets Bad Tar Sands Precedent:
California muscle beats BC weakness on carbon initiative
For release April 27, 2010
Environmental
Defence and Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
British Columbia's new Low Carbon
Fuel Standard (LCFS) is too weak to
effectively fight global warming, according to an analysis released
today by Environmental Defence Canada and Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC). The groups compared BC's standard to the pioneering
California one, and found BC's effort to be significantly flawed. Copies
of the analysis are being sent to decision-makers across North America,
several of whom are also in the process of developing an LCFS. more
Read more: Comparison
of California and British Columbia’s Low Carbon Fuel Standards
The
new U.N. climate chief should have a strong understanding of women’s
issues
April 27,
2010
Grist
With Yvo de Boer stepping down as executive
secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be appointing a replacement. The
role of the executive secretary is critical to achieving a fair,
ambitious, and binding climate agreement, and a strong successor to de
Boer is absolutely essential for Cancun and beyond. more
Editorial:
Why Should They Believe Us?
April 24, 2010
The New York Times
Prime
Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, the host of this June’s Group of 8
summit meeting, said last week that “if the G-8 is to remain credible,
accountability is absolutely necessary.”
Aid is an essential
component of any strategy to defeat terrorism, promote global security
and combat global warming. The current offer to help poor countries deal
with climate change is $10 billion a year until 2012 and $100 billion a
year after that. Right now we doubt anybody will believe that. more
Renewable
Electricity Plan: A path to good jobs, stable prices, and a cleaner
environment
April 2010
Nova
Scotia Department of Energy
This Renewable Electricity Plan sets
out a detailed program to move Nova Scotia away from carbon based
electricity towards greener, more local sources.
The motivation
for this plan is simple: nearly 90 percent of the province’s electricity
supply comes from fossil fuels—most of it coal. more
Grassroots
summit calls for international climate court
April
23, 2010
guardian.co.uk
Rich
countries should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% and set up a
court to punish climate crimes, according to an international conference
of grassroots climate groups and social movements in Bolivia. more
Climate
scientist sues newspaper for 'poisoning' global warming
debate
April 22, 2010
The
Guardian
One of the world's leading climate scientists has
launched a libel
lawsuit against a Canadian newspaper for publishing
articles that he says "poison" the debate on global warming. more.
NDP
want G8 environment meeting
April 22, 2010
Toronto Sun
The G8
environment ministers should meet in advance of the leaders meeting in
Canada this June, opposition critics said today.
NDP foreign
affairs critic Paul Dewar and environment critic Linda Duncan said
climate change has been erased from the agenda for the meeting of eight
of the world's most developed economies. more
Harper
Government attacked on Earth Day for meddling in European climate
change policy
April 22, 2010
Climate Action Network
Canada
In response to several
recent statements from Members of the
European Parliament on Canada’s ongoing efforts to undermine clean
energy policy in Europe, Graham Saul, Executive Director of Climate
Action Network Canada said the following:
"European leaders
are calling on the government of Canada to stop trying to undermine
European Union climate change policy and to focus instead on meeting
Canada’s own international commitments. The government of Canada is
trying to block important policies in Europe that are designed to
promote clean energy and discourage the use of dirty fuels, such as oil
from the Alberta tar sands. They are doing this at the request of, and
in cooperation with, both the Government of Alberta and many of the oil
companies that are active in the Tar Sands. The government says that it
wants Canada to be a clean energy superpower, but it is behaving like a
spokesperson for the oil industry.” more
Introducing the Green Economy
Network
We have come together as members of
unions, environmental and social justice organizations to form a common
front of civil society groups for the building of a green economy in
Canada. In so doing, we realize we are living in one of those critical
moments of history wherein urgent decisions and actions must be taken
that will ultimately affect our destiny as a people, a nation, and the
planet itself. more
‘Deep
hunger for hope’ on climate change action
April 22, 2010
Marites N. Sison, Anglican Journal
About
50 Canadian leaders from various faith traditions as well as
environmental and international development NGOs recently held a two-day
retreat in Toronto to examine ethical and justice issues around climate
change and to explore common ground for action.
“We have to work
together in communities of congruence…. We must be prepared to speak
the truth even in the midst of denial and even in the midst of
ridicule,” said Mardi Tindal, moderator of the United Church of Canada. more
EU
lawmakers raise pressure on Canadian oil sands
April 22, 2010
Reuters
European parliamentarians are
raising the pressure on the Canadian oil sands industry, which
they accuse of destroying forests and polluting the air and
waterways.
Seventeen members of the European Parliament wrote to
European climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard on Tuesday,
urging her to maintain barriers to oil sands in draft EU
standards to promote greener fuels. more
Pembina Institute
opens Washington bureau
April 22, 2010
The
Pembina Institute
WASHINGTON, D.C. -With the Canadian federal
government determined to tie Ottawa's climate and energy policy to
Washington's, the Pembina Institute announced today that it has
established an on-the-ground presence in the U.S. capital. more
Earth Day 2010: Members drive victories
April 22, 2010
CUPE
CUPE
members are driving environmental action at work and in their
communities. On Earth Day 2010, the CUPE National Environment Committee
is focusing on some of the many wins our members have made to help make
the planet greener, healthier and more sustainable. more
Government
youth project aimed at environmental awareness
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
April 22,
2010
Nearly 400,000 young teens across the country are
about to get an Earth Day gift, courtesy of Environment Minister Jim
Prentice, encouraging them to explore the Canadian wilderness.
The
initiative, in partnership with Nature Canada and the
Historica-Dominion Institute, came as the oilsands sector in Prentice's
home province of Alberta faced a new barrage of criticism from a group
of 17 members of the European Parliament representing four different
political parties. In a letter sent on Tuesday to the European
Commission, the politicians urged the European Union to place
restrictions on imports of oil from the oilsands sector in a proposed
Fuel Quality Directive, arguing it should instead favour cleaner fuel
sources. more
Climate researchers slap Canada for lax emissions
record
Margaret
Munro, Canwest News Service
April 21, 2010
Canada gets special
mention for its "unambitious" greenhouse gas
emissions cuts in a report that says the planet is in grave danger of
overheating. more
Government takes undue
credit for drop in emissions
April 19, 2010
Pj Partington
Well
folks, the numbers are in and it's a blow out! In
2008,
Canada's emissions dropped 2.1 per cent from their all-time high of 750
million
tonnes the year before. Fantastic news! And, if you believe last week's press
release
from Environment Minister Jim Prentice, we have mostly the federal
government's clever policies to thank. more.
Europeans
say No to Tar Sands Oil
April 20,
2010
Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Natural Resource Defence Council
Today
a letter went from 17 Members of the European Parliament to the
European Commission in protest of tar sands oil.
This
is the second letter protesting tar sands oil coming from
Parliamentarians in the past half year and it shows a growing concern
that Europe not open its doors to this higher carbon intensity fuel. more.
Event: Climate Change and
Poverty: Off the Table?
April 28, 7pm – 9pm
The
University of Ottawa - Pavilion Desmarais - 55 Laurier East, Room 1120
(First Floor)
In
the wake of the financial crisis, countries around the world have cut
back on their commitments to combat climate change and poverty. As the
G8/G20 leaders prepare to gather in June, what are the challenges and
opportunities for getting these issues back on the table?
Presenters:
Charles Abugre (Director of Campaigns for the Millenniem
Development Goals, UN Development Program and Gauri Sreenivasan, Policy
Coordinator, Canadian Council for International Co-operation
For
more information please contact Caroline Foster at cfoster [at]
kairoscanada [dot] org
News
Release: Canadians mark Earth Day by participating in historic
Cochabamba Climate Conference
April
17, 2010
CYCC and Council of Canadians
Two prominent
Canadian organizations will be joining social movements,
non-governmental organizations, intellectuals, Indigenous Peoples from
around the world and representatives of more than 70 governments,
including France, Russia, and Spain, at the Bolivian government's
Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth, April
20-22.
The Council of Canadians and the Canadian Youth Climate
Coalition have delegates on the ground in Cochabamba hosting workshops,
participating in official working groups and a plenary panel. In Canada,
youth are hosting climate justice teach-in actions across the country. more
Green: within our grasp
Peggy Curran, The Montreal Gazette
April
17, 2010
Alex Aylett has been thinking a lot lately about the
20-minute
neighbourhood, a post-modern urban village where everything you really
need - from food and drink to parks, schools and the latest movie - is a
short walk or a zippy bike ride from your house. more.
News Media: Paler Shades of Green
Hubert Bauch, The Montreal Gazette
April
17, 2010
Andrew Weaver first has to stifle a laugh when he's
asked about the
state of political leadership in this country on confronting climate
change.
Weaver is a doctor of climatology and heads the climate
modelling group at the University of Victoria. "There is a void
federally in terms of any significant leadership, that's pretty clear,"
he says when he regains composure. more.
News Release: Groups urge G20 agenda include climate
action
April 16, 2010
As environment ministers prepare to gather
in Washington, DC April 18-19 and finance ministers do the same April
23, U.S.
and Canadian environmental groups called today for President Barrack
Obama and
Prime Minister Stephen Harper to make climate change a priority on the
G20
agenda in Toronto in June. more.
Lets give our grandkids a powerful legacy
April 14, 2010
Op-Ed by WWF's
Keith Stewart in the Globe and Mail
This is not the first time an
Ontario
premier has found himself under fire over a plan for massive investments
in renewable energy to end his province's reliance on coal.
more.
FOSSIL
OF THE DAY AWARDS - Bonn Negotiations
April 11, 2010
Third Place Fossil
to Canada. Canada was awarded third place for failing
to understand that emissions and not targets are supposed to be
reduced. more.
Canadian
Youth Unite to Deliver a Message to Members of Parliament: Be
Climate
Leaders, Keep Bill C-311 Alive!
For Release April 12, 2010
NATIONAL - Following an announcement that Bill C-311, the Climate
Change
Accountability Act, would face a procedural vote in the House of Commons
in
order to reach its third reading, a network of Climate Justice activists
across
Canada have delivered a message to Members of Parliament across Canada:
Take
action on Climate Change Save Bill C-311. more.
C-311:
A Global Warming Test for All Parties
For release April 9, 2010
Sierra Club
Canada
Sierra
Club Canada is urging all Canadians to contact Liberal Leader Michael
Ignatieff and urge him and his caucus members to vote for the Climate
Change Accountability Act, Bill C-311, when it comes to a vote
Wednesday, April 14.
"This is a test of commitment for all
political parties. We’ve had decades of quibbling and empty promises.
This bill will require government to act according to science,” said
John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada. more
Sierra
Club Canada: Days of Rain
What better way of celebrating the
40th Anniversary of Earth Day than to spend the month of April getting
back into the spirit of 1970 by raining a shower of protest against
environmental injustices nationwide!
This is how Sierra Club
Canada proposes to celebrate Earth Day:
Every few days in April
we'll send out a Sierra Club Action Alert. Each alert will ask you to
visit our web site to compose and send an email. more
Blog:
In this street fight, climate scientists stand their ground
April 6, 2010
PJ Partington, Pembina Climate Change Blog
"The integrity of climate research has taken a very public
battering in recent months. Scientists must now emphasize the science,
while acknowledging that they are in a street fight."
So begins a
recent editorial in Nature, one of the world's most respected
multidisciplinary scientific journals. We couldn't have said it better. more
Editorial:
Act like a superpower
April 6, 2010
Globe and Mail
In January, 2007, Gary Lunn, then the federal minister of natural
resources, declared that it was not good enough for Canada to strive to
be an energy superpower. "We must become a clean-energy superpower," he
said. "It's a priority for our government." Three years later, Mr. Lunn
is labouring in the outer ring of cabinet as the Minister of State for
Sport, and the country is further than ever from assuming a superpower
role, because a coherent renewable energy policy has dropped off the
priority list. more
Editorial: Harper
government has no real plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions
April 5, 2010
Clare Demerse
Let's say that a friend told you that he's determined to be a PGA
golfer by 2020. Unfortunately, he has barely ever set foot on a golf
course.
So you'd probably ask what he's planning on doing to
reach his goal. Daily practice? Hiring a coach? Hitting the weight room?
After all, 2020 is not so far away when he's starting from scratch. more
Better
transportation policies could cut driving time and remove one million
cars' worth of GHG emissions
April 5, 2010
The Pembina Institute
Making key improvements to
personal transportation policies would result in greenhouse gas
reductions equivalent to taking one million vehicles off the road and
also reduce driving time for commuters, according to a new report by the
Pembina Institute.
The Ontario government’s recent budget
decision to delay investment in public transit, however, could prevent
the province from meeting its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets
and reducing congestion. more
Download the full report at ontario.pembina.org/pub/1993
Download
the fact sheet at ontario.pembina.org/pub/1992
Climate-change
skeptics have it wrong, memo to minister says
April 5, 2010
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
Canadian scientists from six different federal departments have
shot down a recent controversy that raised doubts about whether humans
are causing global warming and have urged the government to base its
climate-change policies on peer-reviewed research.
In a
memorandum, prepared for Environment Minister Jim Prentice prior to his
participation at the Copenhagen conference last December, the
top-ranking official at Environment Canada said a controversy
surrounding stolen e-mails from a climate-research centre in the United
Kingdom does not call into question the reliability of the science. more
Automakers
facing carbon tax in 2011 under tough new standards
April 1, 2010
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
Automobile manufacturers could face a carbon tax on new vehicles
in the 2011 model year if they fail to meet new standards to reduce
tailpipe emissions that were announced on Thursday by Environment
Minister Jim Prentice. more
Green
Communities Canada urges federal vision, leadership: Don’t pull the
plug on home energy progress
April 1, 2010
Green Communities Canada
Cancelling Canada’s ecoENERGY home
retrofit program is a serious mistake, says Green Communities Canada, a
national leader in energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
“Canada
needs to get with the program,” Maynes said. “Instead of turning its
back on energy efficiency, Ottawa should demonstrate vision and
leadership. Canada needs a bold commitment to bring Canada’s inefficient
housing stock into the 21st Century.” more
Pembina
Reacts: Canada taking “America Lite” approach to transportation
emissions
April 1, 2010
The Pembina Institute
“These regulations help to get Canada on track to reduce its
transportation emissions. But with Canada’s fleet of vehicles already
more efficient than the U.S., these regulations are unlikely to begin
reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Canada before 2012. And this
announcement does not apply to freight trucks — a significant omission
when freight emissions have nearly doubled since 1990..." more
Home-energy retrofit program suddenly ends
April 1, 2010
Globe and Mail
The popular ecoENERGY Retrofit program
that provides grants of up to $5,000 to Canadians who make their homes
more energy efficient has come to an abrupt end.
More.
Press
Release: Climate Justice Campaign
Calls Tar Sands Developers Canada's Fossil Fools
April 1, 2010
People for Climate Justice
"Fossil Fools
Day is an international
day of action to hold dirty
politicians and industries accountable for expanding a fossil fuel
industry
that is fast destroying our planet and our communities"... more
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