News

In 2008, 21,000 Canadians will die from the effects of air pollution.

The CMA report "No Breathing Room: National Illness Costs of Air Pollution" suggests in just over two decades, 700,000 Canadians will die prematurely due to air pollution. Calculated according to the expected increase in concentration of ozone and particulate matter, the annual death toll is expected to rise 83 percent to 39,000 deaths a year by 2031.

Short-term exposure to air pollution thickens the blood, and can cause heart attacks and strokes. Prolonged exposure to air pollution damages the muscle cells in the arteries of the heart, casing them to harden, said Ted Boadway, the association's technical adviser on health and the environment.

Increasing emergency and doctor's office visits are expected to strain the health system, with costs in medical expenses and lost productivity, rising to $250 billion by the year 2031 if no improvements are made.

San Francisco-based marketing expert Outlaw Consulting has released the 2008 Green Brands Index. Surveyed Generation Y, aged 21-29 years, admit they do not always shop 'green' but ecological factors are important in categories like food, beauty and homecare.

"Our aim was to discover which companies are going beyond the niche market of hard-core 'greenies' and winning over the more broadly influential members of this generation," said Barbara Bylenga, Outlaw Consultation founder and chief strategist.

The top 15 companies are seen as trailblazers, being the first in their category to promote an eco-friendly alternative. Companies favored by Generation Y include Whole Foods, Google, Toyota, Ikea, Starbucks, Apple, and Method.

After a 37-year experiment, University of Alberta scientist David Schindler says there is no point removing nitrogen from the Lake Winnipeg watershed when phosphorus is the key pollutant causing potentially deadly blue-green algae blooms.

Schindler's research compiled from the Experimental Lakes Area east of Kenora, Ontario suggests nitrogen removal will fail to control blue-green algae blooms and will in fact encourage growth. Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board recommends reducing phosphorus concentration to 1mg/L and removing nitrogen only if necessary.

Water and sewage bills are expected to double by the middle of next decade and Winnipeggers, politicians and scientists are questioning the logic of a costly nitrogen removal process. Schindler recommends treatment should focus on phosphorus removal to stop the degradation of Lake Winnipeg.

The NRTEE is obligated to undertake research and advise on the likelihood proposed policies and measures will achieve forecasted emissions reductions and whether these policies and measures enable Canada to meet its obligations under The Kyoto Protocol.

As in 2007, the NRTEE concluded the federal government is overestimating emissions reductions as a result of plan initiatives during the Kyoto Protocol commitment period (2008-2012).

NRTEE notes although emission reductions will occur as a result of the technology fund, most will occur outside the 2007-2012 period.

The NRTEE report also suggests there is uncertainty as to whether the Regulatory Framework for Air Emissions will result in significant emissions reductions in the Kyoto timeframe.

The Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act (KPIA), received Royal Assent June 2007; stipulates that each year the Government of Canada must prepare a Climate Change Plan describing measures and policies it enacted to meet Canada's obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

Developed by British tidal energy company, Marine Current Turbines (MTC), the 'SeaGen' turbine works like an underwater windmill. More predictable than wind or solar power, the UK government has set up a £42 million Marine Renewables Deployment Fund to help firms develop these projects.

Situated in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, gravitational attraction of the moon creates some of the world's fastest tidal flows at speeds of up to 8 knots. A farm of turbines off the coast of Anglesey, north Wales, is expected around 2011/2012.

"Marine power has the potential to play an important role in helping us meet our challenging targets for a massive increase in the amount of energy generated from renewables," says secretary of state for business, John Hutton.

Strangford is a breeding ground for common seals but MTC says the turbines are unlikely to pose a threat to marine wildlife with rotors turning no more than 10 to 15 revolutions per minute. Turbines are also less damaging than constructing dams to harness tidal energy.

The EECC is a coalition of energy efficiency advocates with celebrated support from the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Sierra Club US Cool Cities program.

On September 21-22 in Minneapolis, the International Codes Coalition (ICC) members will vote on the 30% Solution, a proposed amendment to the International Energy Conservation Code.

If approved the 30% Solution would save the U.S. an estimated $88 billion in energy costs and reduce CO2 by 464 million metric tons by 2030. William Fay, coordinator of the CCEE says it "may be America's most significant energy, environmental and climate policy vote of 2008."

The St Lawrence Seaway opened the Great Lakes to international maritime trade in 1959. Since then the number of invasive species has risen, causing native fish populations to be displaced and food chains disrupted.

American scientists have linked impacts of invasive species to economic indicators for sport and commercial fishing, wildlife viewing, and use of water. According to the the Universities of Notre Dame and Wyoming study, annual loss to sport fishing alone is more than $123 million.

The study says 57 of the 84 invasive spices were transported to the Great Lakes in ballast water of ships. A number of regulations are already in place for handling ballast water but discrepancies between Canadian and U.S. requirements makes monitoring difficult.

The cap would force polluting companies to pay for emissions they created and would apply to all companies and sites emitting more than 25,000 tonnes of "carbon dioxide equivalents" per year.

Climate advocates are supportive of the intent and overall direction of the WCI, but were cautiously critical of the draft cap-and-trade recommendations. They expressed disappointment at initial caps being set at business-as-usual levels and that the framework wouldn't bring large polluters into the system until 2012, and even 2015 for some.

• Advance start date of system to 2010.
• Set provincial caps on greenhouse gas emission at levels that are in line with their government's climate targets.
• Close potential loopholes with respect to credits from outside the capped sectors.
• Auction all greenhouse gas allowances, rather than giving them away free.

The plan is open for public review and comments until mid-August and is scheduled to be finalized September 2008.

In the 2007-08 year, Hydro imported 600 million kilowatt hours of US power, about 355 mega tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

Manitoba Hydro argues that importing power overnight helps keep Manitoba's rates among the lowest. And Hydro can sell 'surplus' power back to the United States during the day, keeping states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin from firing up more coal generators to meet peak daytime needs.

"If Manitoba is serious about meeting Kyoto targets, why don't we use our own power to meet domestic energy needs? If Manitobans are consuming fossil fuel based power, is this reflected in Manitoba's calculations of greenhouse gas emissions? These are the kind of questions that must be answered in Manitoba's intended new Energy Plan," said Gaile Whelan Enns, of Manitoba Wildlands. The Manitoba government intends to work on a province-wide Engery Plan during fall 2008.

Parks Canada and Manitoba are proposing to establish a national park within Misipawistik's traditional lands to protect and represent the Lake Winnipeg Lowlands.

The Misipawistik Cree's knowledge of parks establishment is drawn from the 1920s and 30s when Riding Mountain National Park was established. (First Nation people were forcibly evicted.)

Parks Canada officials indicated national parks are no longer established against the will of First Nations, and sponsored the fact-finding trip. The trip allowed Elders and Council members to evaluate Parks Canada methods. Emphasis on exercise of traditional rights in national parks continued through the tour.

The fact-finding trips included visits to Nahanni National Park Reserve and Wood Buffalo National Park, as well as Wapusk National Park in Manitoba, Torngat Mountains National Park in Labrador, and Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve in B.C.

The region covers 9,400 square kilometres of land, plus existing parks and protected areas including Woodland Caribou Provincial Park and the Eagle-Snowshoe Conservation Reserve in Ontario, and Atikaki Wilderness Park and parts of Nopiming Provincial Park in Manitoba.

Establishing and jointly managing the area is a step by government toward inscription of Eastside Manitoba and Ontario boreal forestlands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The announcement was criticized as being a bureaucratic arrangement that does not increase amount of protected land, and does little to prevent mining and logging or to protect woodland caribou. None of the region's First Nations were party to the announcement.

"There's no new protected areas," said Janet Sumner, executive director of the Wildlands League. "They're basically saying, 'We have existing wilderness areas and we're going to talk to each other as we manage them.' "

Eric Reder of the Wilderness Committee said if Manitoba was serious about protecting woodland caribou, it would have included new land under a new wilderness area, including where caribou calve in the northeast corner of Nopiming park. "That area remains at risk to logging despite a 1992 report stating it should be set aside from any development," he said.

The suit, filed May 2008, pits Beaver Lake Cree against governments of Canada and Alberta, and lays groundwork for a new legal regime governing resource extraction on traditional lands of Canada's First Nations.

On May 14, 2008, the Beaver Lake Cree released their Kétuskéno Declaration, which asserts their role as caretakers of their traditional territories and initiates the legal action. The First Nation claims Alberta and Canada have infringed Beaver Lake's Treaty rights by approving oil and gas and other developments throughout the First Nation's traditional territory. Attached to the statement of claim is a schedule listing more than 15,000 asserted infringements of Beaver Lake's constitutionally protected rights. The court is asked to rule invalid government authorizations for thousands of petroleum projects in the First Nation' core territory.

A victory in the courts would allow Beaver Lake Cree to demand higher levels of accommodation and consultation from government and industry on operations in their territory and could set a precedent for other bands to enforce similar demands on oil-sands projects.