Most of the oil that
spilled from a Canadian-owned pipeline into a
southern Michigan river has been contained — but the cleanup effort
could take months, company officials say. more
16 cents per
kilowatt-hour. It doesn’t sound very profound, but its impact could be
as big as 9-11 or 1776 or E=MC2.
The rap against solar is that it is too expensive, right? Wrong. And
the big deal about nuclear is that it is so cheap, right? Wrong. In
this case, 2 wrongs make a right. more
In
recent weeks a number of well-informed U.S. Congressmen along with
the Environmental Protection Agency have been asking some uncomfortable
questions about a large metallic snake connected to the tar sands,
Canada's largest single growing source of extreme climate-warming gases.
more
He cautioned that Pembina's analysis used the best
available information, and that there were some inadequacies in
some of the government's numbers. more
Scientists from
around the world are providing even more evidence of global warming.
"A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms the world
is warming and the past decade was the warmest on record," the annual
State of the Climate report declares. more
More than 300 scientists from around
the world, including several Canadians, hope to blunt some growing
skepticism about climate change with a new report that says global
warming is a fact and the Earth is hotter than ever. more
Microscopic marine algae called phytoplankton that produce half the
world's oxygen and support most ocean life have been declining
dramatically over the past century, Canadian researchers say. more
BC’s
Environmental and Labour movements are hosting a joint conference on
Green Jobs on September 10 and 11, 2010. The conference will bring the
two sectors together to find solutions they can work on that address
climate change and build green jobs. more
July 27, 2010 Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times
It is pretty much a tossup for me: Who poses a greater long-term threat
to America’s Gulf Coast ecosystem: the U.S. Senate or BP? Right now,
from what I’ve seen flying over the Louisiana coast at the mouth of the
Mississippi, my vote is the U.S. Senate. BP at least seems to have
finally gotten its act together and is cleaning up the oil spill. The
Senate, in failing to pass even the most modest bill to diminish our
addiction to oil and begin to mitigate climate change, has not even
begun to do its job. more
Southern Michigan residents are learning that devastating oil spills aren't limited to the Gulf Coast.
Crews were working Wednesday to contain and clean up an estimated
3.32 million litres of oil that coated birds and fish as it poured into
a creek and flowed into the Kalamazoo River, a major waterway in the
state that empties into Lake Michigan. more
Our member
organizations applaud the leadership role many of you have taken on climate
change and clean energy. As we look across the country we see impressive
initiatives to improve energy efficiency, to harness new renewable and
sustainable energy resources, to reduce emissions, to capture methane, and to
price carbon emissions in two provinces. As we transition to clean energy, it
is becoming clear that we do not need to choose between the environment and the
economy – several provinces are already reaping the job benefits in sectors
like renewable energy and public transit while cutting emissions.more
The premier says the province will invest in more costly advertisements
to get its message out about the oilsands. Ed Stelmach made the pledge
Tuesday morning as he flipped pancakes during his annual pancake
breakfast at the Alberta Legislature. more
Canada's three largest provinces are
forging ahead on a cap-and-trade system to stem global warming
emissions, a move made just after a similar plan was abandoned by the
U.S. Senate. more
Environmental group Greenpeace said it had cut fuel supplies to all 50
BP stations in the city. The oil firm said 35 to 40 had been shut but
many of them have now reopened. more
The EPA has slowed down the approval process of a permit for a new
Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline that a few months ago looked like a
shoo-in for a State Department rubber stamp by the fall. more
Never say that the gods lack a sense of humor. I bet they’re still
chuckling on Olympus over the decision to make the first half of 2010 —
the year in which all hope of action to limit climate change died — the
hottest such stretch on record.more
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Friday announced a new
"citizens assembly" to guide action on global warming, in a major
pre-election speech which was hit by protests and condemned by critics. more
July 22, 2010 Chris Severson-Baker, Pembina Institute
In 2002, the Alberta body that regulates energy agreed to
let a power company build a new coal-fired power plant outside Edmonton, with
one key environmental condition: the company would make good on a voluntary
commitment to cut the plant's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in half. more
Ongoing criticism of oilsands development in Alberta is wreaking
reputational havoc on our province, culminating in an unfortunate hit
to tourism operators with the recent Rethink Alberta campaign. We think
a different response could level the criticisms. more
The Harper government is using an international clean energy conference
to correct what it describes as misleading attacks against Canada's
oilsands industry, Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis said
Tuesday. more
Zhang Liang, a 25-year-old who was with the Dalian Fire Department,
died as he was trying to fix an underwater pump, which was heavily
clogged by petroleum and debris. Greenpeace China yesterday sent a letter to the fire department expressing sympathy and respect for the fireman and those on the front lines of the clean-up effort in Dalian, Liaoning province, China. more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is urging the Obama
administration to put the brakes on a proposed pipeline linking
Alberta's oilsands industry with American refineries because of its
potential impact on global warming. more
July 20, 2010 Jasmin Melvin and Alina Selyukh, Reuters U.S.
The United States and
dozens of other countries have pledged hundreds of millions of
dollars toward clean energy initiatives to help battle climate
change, U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said on Tuesday. more
A $6.6-million program to help the Prairie provinces deal with the
impact of climate change on water resources, forests and grasslands was
announced at the University of Regina Tuesday.more
Six
countries seen as most threatened by rising sea levels have vowed to
cut their carbon emissions as a gesture of their commitment to fight
global warming, the Maldivian government said Monday. more
According to environmentalists, it’s also the Athabasca in Alberta.
As
we curse BP for its underwater gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, as we
mourn for the whales, water birds and other wildlife covered in oil, as
we pity the bankrupted shrimpers who have lived off the gulf’s bounty
for generations, we still line up at the pumps that offer fuel for a
few cents less than the guys up the street. more
Have you heard about the “growing number” of eminent scientists who
reject the theory that man-made greenhouse gases are increasing the
earth’s temperature? It’s one of those factoids that, for years, has
been casually dropped into the opening paragraphs of conservative
manifestos against climate-change treaties and legislation. more
Just two weeks ago the Standing Committee on Environment and
Sustainable Development abruptly cancelled a big report on the tar
sands and the project's extreme water impacts. The parliamentarians
even destroyed draft copies of their final report. more
July 16, 2010 Natasha T. Metzler, The Associated Press
Last month was the warmest June on record, extending months of record-setting heat.
Worldwide,
the average temperature in June was 16.2 degrees Celsius, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. That was 0.68
degrees warmer than average for June.more
Alberta is famous worldwide for its
stunning mountain vistas and wide open spaces, but a U.S. environmental
group wants oil-soaked birds to be the image that sticks out in
tourists' minds. more
A vigorous debate is occurring in the U.S. over the use of oil from oil
sands and particularly about a proposed pipeline, the Keystone, that
would transport that oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf coast. As the
debate unfolds, an appropriate question to be asking is: How should
Canada respond? more
Yesterday was a day of action and protest in the US for opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Canadian Embassy here was a target. (The place has been busy. Last
week, naked PETA protesters showed up. More on this later.) more
With
the Gulf oil spill continuing to poison U.S. attitudes toward
petroleum, strident new criticism has erupted against a TransCanada
(TRP-T36.61-0.08-0.22%) pipeline that would deliver oil sands crude to
Texas, with a prominent U.S. politician joining a loud chorus of
critics opposed to the multi-billion-dollar project. more
Canada's largest and most influential business organization has launched
a lobbying campaign urging Canadian senators to kill legislation
requiring the government to deliver a science-based plan to fight global
warming and provide regular reports on its progress. more.
Canada has a new, confident strut. We held the
world spotlight for a few days at the G8 and G20 meetings in Muskoka and
Toronto, where we asserted our impressive record on fiscal management and led an
international consensus on deficit reduction. Canada, some say, has finally
found its footing on the global stage after years of stumbling. more
An independent report
into the leak of hundreds of e-mails from one of the world's leading
climate research centres on Wednesday largely vindicated the scientists
involved, saying they acted honestly and that their research was
reliable. more
July 6, 2010 Elisabeth Rosenthal, The New York Times
Facing
a decision on a proposed pipeline to bring Canadian crude oil to the
United States, the Obama administration is confronting growing
resistance from politicians who oppose the project or, at the very
least, urge further study before approval. more
June 29, 2010 Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources
The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources
is inviting all Canadians to have a say in Canada’s energy future.
The
call to participate in a national energy dialogue came in the committee’s
Interim Report entitled “Attention Canada!”, which was tabled in the Senate
today following nearly nine months of testimony from Canada’s leading energy
thinkers, research institutions and other stakeholders. The message is clear:
there is urgent need for a national discussion on energy. Canada requires a
comprehensive Canadian Sustainable Energy Strategy now. more
It only took five and a half hours on Monday for the Harper government to respond to questions about a leaked document on fossil fuel subsidies which circulated at last month's G20 summit in Toronto. more
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is making a sizeable
investment in Canada’s tar sands. The pension plan announced that it
was making a $250-million private placement in Laricina Energy Ltd., a
Calgary-based company that has a portfolio of oil sands assets that
range from properties in the McMurray formation as well as sites near
Grand Rapids and Grosmont. With this investment CPPIB now owns a 17.1%
equity interest in the company. more
OTTAWA — The Harper government has protected several incentive and
subsidy programs for fossil fuels, despite making a G20 pledge to phase
them out, according to a leaked document from last month's conference
in Toronto. more
You could argue that 2010 took us a little farther away from our
neighbour's embrace. Canada has hosted the world this year: The
Winter Olympics in British Columbia and two international summits.
K'naan, a Canadian, born in Somalia, has rocketed to fame with what is
now a soccer anthem: Wavin' Flag....
Claire Demerse of the Pembina Institute argues Canada has lost
credibility as a result of a weak stand on global climate change.
"What
I've seen has been Canada is being perceived as part of problem, as a
laggard," she said. more
