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- Ontario Approves New Hydro Projects
- Public Asked to 'Vote Environment'
- International Action - Renewable Energy
- Band Status Fast Tracked
- Ice Melting at Alarming Rate
- China Passes Renewable Energy Law
- Citizens Unite to Protect Rivers
- Scientists Appeal to Conserve Biodiversity
- Will Manitoba Protect Lands and Waters?
- Ocean Studies Confirm Global Warming
- Hydro-Quebec Contracts 990MW Wind Power
- Hydro-Quebec Spat With Electricity Association
| Ontario Approves New Hydro Projects | 31 March 05 |
 The Ontario government has approved 18 private applications for water-power development and invited new proposals to develop wind power on Crown land.The new water projects have the potential for producing between 200 and 300 megawatts of hydroelectric energy, the Ministry of Natural Resources said. The government has a target to add 1,350 megawatts of new renewable generating capacity by 2007 and 2,700 megawatts by 2010. Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay said all the projects were relatively small. Ontario is "topographically challenged," he said, and has no potential for hydro megaprojects such as those in Manitoba and Quebec. Not all the Ontario water-power sites would involve dams, Ramsay said, and the government wanted to avoid new flooding of land. The 18 site approvals are the result of 57 applications for waterpower development. The government also wants to develop wind power, Ramsay said. He is asking companies, First Nations and individuals to submit proposals for sites for wind power development on Crown land. In January, the government approved applications from 16 private companies to assess wind power potential on 21 Crown land sites. View the CBC News Online Toronto March 7, 2005 news article View the March 7, 2005 Ontario Government press release Source: CBC News Online Toronto |
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| Public Asked to 'Vote Environment' | 29 March 05 |
 The British Columbia Chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada has launched a campaign in light of the upcoming provincial election in that province in May 2005.Sierra Club BC has taken a non-partisan approach to BC's upcoming election and is urging voters to critically evaluate the candidates in their riding regarding their position on environmental issues. The goal of the project is to get people talking about environmental issues and values in the lead-up to May 17. Health care, education, and the economy are already dominating pre-election media coverage. The message Sierra Club BC is sharing through 'Vote Environment' is that all important issues are connected to our planet's ecosystems, and the environment in which we live and work. Information regarding issues such as clean energy, clean, safe drinking water, protecting B.C.'s grizzly bears, salmon farming, and monitoring capacity to protect the province's forests is provided on the site, along with questions that voters can pose to their candidates to find out how they stand on environmental issues. Visit the Sierra Club BC 'Vote Environment' web page Source: Sierra Club of Canada - BC Chapter |
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| International Action - Renewable Energy | 29 March 05 |
 The 2004 International Conference for Renewable Energies (ICRE) in Bonn, Germany led to the International Action Programme (IAP), which contains almost 200 voluntary renewable energy actions and commitments by governments, international organizations, the private sector and civil society groups around the globe. A new report provides analysis of these actions and commitments.The IAP signals the will of a broad range of stakeholders to increase the share of renewable energies in energy supply. Actions fall into three general categories: 1) formation of enabling policy framework conditions allowing the market development of renewable energies, 2) increasing the private and public financing in order to ensure a reliable demand for renewable energies, and 3) human and institutional capacity building, and coordination and intensification of research and development. The actions will result in an estimated investment of US $326 billion around the world on renewable energy between now and 2015. Visit the ICRE conference website View information about the IAP (including the new content analysis report) View news about the June 2004 conference View Canadian Government information on renewable energy Source: International Conference on Renewable Energies |
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| Band Status Fast Tracked | 23 March 05 |
 Many residents of South Indian Lake, Manitoba are questioning the timing, motives and ethics of the Governments of Canada and Manitoba to fast track their reserve status for April 1, 2005. They are currently members of Nelson House First Nation (NCN), Métis and non-status aboriginal. In the 2001 referendum on the Wuskwatim Agreement in Principle (AIP) between NCN and Manitoba Hydro over 80% of South Indian Lake NCN members voted against the project. Their 2005 referendum votes could kill the project. Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro have publicly stated the Wuskwatim Dam would not proceed without consent of NCN band members. Serious negotiations on the reserve started in December 2004, after decades of neglect and inaction. Steve Ducharme, former Mayor of South Indian Lake and representative for the Manitoba Métis Federation added "we'll have to do something- maybe ask for a court injunction to delay it." South Indian Lake Métis resident Hilda Dysart raised similar concerns in a February 16, 2005 letter to Manitoba Minister Oscar Lathlin. View the full Displaced Residents of South Indian Lake (DRSIL) press release (DOC) View the Hilda Dysart Feb. 16, 2005 letter to Minister Lathlin (DOC) View the Angus Dysart March 15, 2005 letter to Minister Andy Scott (DOC) Source: DRSIL |
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| Ice Melting at Alarming Rate | 21 March 05 |
 Ice is melting everywhere-and at an accelerating rate. Rising global temperatures are lengthening melting seasons, thawing frozen ground, and thinning ice caps and glaciers that in some cases have existed for millennia. These changes are raising sea level faster than earlier projected by scientists, and threatening both human and wildlife populations. Average surface temperatures in the Arctic Circle have risen by more than half a degree Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade since 1981. The extent of Arctic sea ice cover has decreased by 7-9 percent per decade. And the three smallest extents of summer ice ever seen there have all occurred since 2002. According to the latest forecasts, the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer by the end of this century. Most disturbing, many of the effects of ice melting are self-reinforcing. As ice disappears, land and open water are exposed. When sunlight strikes ice and snow, approximately 80 percent is reflected back into space and 20 percent is absorbed as heat. The opposite holds true for land and open water-20 percent is reflected and 80 percent is absorbed. This decrease in reflectivity creates a positive feedback loop, perpetuating the temperature rise and ice melting. View the full Earth Policy Institute article View global data on ice melt Source: Earth Policy Institute |
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| China Passes Renewable Energy Law | 21 March 05 |
 The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China endorsed the Renewable Energy Law, February 28, 2005. The legislation, aimed at relieving China's energy strain, securing the country's energy security and better protecting the ecological environment, was passed four months earlier than expected. China's 'energy crunch' is the result of rapid economic development, which has been causing energy shortages, heavy pollution and dependence on imported energy. In 2003, China's renewable energy consumption accounted for only 3 percent of the country's total energy consumption. The government plans to lift the figure to 10 percent by 2020. China has massive renewable resources - wind power alone could deliver 1 billion KW, which is three times China's current total installed capacity for electricity generation. China has similarly massive potential for solar, wave, tidal and biomass power. In combination with energy efficiency, the potential exists that the country could meet all its energy needs solely from renewable sources. Environmental groups reacted with cautious optimism to the passage of the new Law. Greenpeace believes that if the final definition of renewables adopted reflects that from the 2004 International Conference for Renewable Energies in Bonn, Germany then the new Chinese law could kick-start massive development of renewable energy. View the People's Daily Online 2005 articles: February 28 & March 1 View February 28, 2005 Greenpeace press release Sources: People's Daily Online, Greenpeace |
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| Citizens Unite to Protect Rivers | 21 March 05 |
 March 14, 2005 marked the eighth annual International Day of Action for Rivers with citizens around the world holding protests, celebrations, hunger strikes and canoe trips. Many events were expressions of opposition to the environmental and social disruption from dams. The Day of Action, organized by California-based International Rivers Network, involved thousands of participants in Argentina, South Africa, India, Bosnia & Herzegovina and various other countries. Many events involved indigenous people.Visit the Day of Action website View international actions by region Source: International Rivers Network |
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| Scientists Appeal to Conserve Biodiversity | 17 March 05 |
 Scientists assembled at an international conference 'Biodiversity: Science and Governance', January 24 - 28, 2005 released an appeal to governments, policy-makers and citizens to take action to "discover, understand, conserve and sustainably use biodiversity". The conference was part of a global effort aimed at significantly reducing the erosion of biodiversity by 2010. The objective of reducing the erosion of biodiversity and putting an end to biodiversity loss by the year 2010 was one of the five outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September 2002 (the WEHAB initiative: Water - Energy - Health - Agriculture - Biodiversity). The current rate of global species extinctions is 100 to 1000 times higher than the rate of extinction measured over the course of geological time due to the natural turnover of ecosystems. Visit the 'Biodiversity: Science and Governance' international conference web site View the Paris Declaration on Biodiversity text Download the Paris Declaration on Biodiversity (PDF) Source: Biodiversity: Science and Governance conference |
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| Will Manitoba Protect Lands and Waters? | 17 March 05 |
 Spring 2005 is shaping up to be the most important spring in five years for protected areas establishment in Manitoba. Gaile Whelan Enns, director of Manitoba Wildlands, asked this question in a recent feature written for the Cottager.Will Manitoba's government get on with the job? Will they act on public policy and their protected areas commitments? Will we have significant new forest lands inside new protected areas by June 2005? Will protected waters become part of the plan to protect our province's natural regions? To see what the Manitoba Government needs to do by June 2005 read the rest of the article! View the full Spring 2005 Manitoba & Northwestern Ontario Cottager article (PDF) Source: Manitoba & Northwestern Ontario Cottager |
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| Ocean Studies Confirm Global Warming | 17 March 05 |
 A parcel of studies looking at the oceans and melting Arctic ice leave no room for doubt that it is getting warmer, people are to blame, and the weather is going to suffer, climate experts said on February 17, 2005. New computer models that look at ocean temperatures instead of the atmosphere show the clearest signal yet that global warming is well underway, said Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Speaking at an annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Barnett said climate models based on air temperatures are weak because most of the evidence for global warming is not even there. "The real place to look is in the ocean." "The debate over whether or not there is a global warming signal is now over, at least for rational people," he said. His team used U.S. government models of solar warming and volcanic warming, just to see if they could account for the measurements they made. "Not a chance," he said. And "the effects will be felt far and wide. Anywhere that the major water source is fed by snow... or glacial melt," he said. "The debate is what are we going to do about it." The report was published one day after the United Nations Kyoto Protocol took effect. View the full Reuters article on Wired News View the Scripps institution of Oceanography article Source: Reuters |
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| Hydro-Quebec Contracts 990MW Wind Power | 14 March 05 |
 Hydro-Quebec, the continent's largest electric utility, recently signed contracts for the purchase of 990 MW worth of wind energy. The wind farms are expected to come online between 2006 and 2012. Hydro-Quebec is expected to launch a call for tenders for an additional 1000 MW of wind power once the provincial government gives the legislative go-ahead.As of December 2004 the total installed wind energy capacity in Canada was only 444 MW, ranking it 12th in the world. The U.S. has 6,800 MW of wind capacity and Germany leads the world with 16,500 MW. In the recent federal budget, Ottawa announced it will quadruple the target of its Wind Power Production Incentive from 1000 to 4000 MW. The program pays wind energy producers 1¢ / kW for electricity produced over a 10 year period. Manitoba Hydro will provide transmission from the 99 MW St. Leon Wind Energy Project in southwestern Manitoba. It is to be completed by the end of 2005. View the Hydro-Quebec release Visit the Canadian Wind Energy Association website Sources: Hydro-Quebec and Canadian Wind Energy Association |
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| Hydro-Quebec Spat With Electricity Association | 14 March 05 |
 Hydro-Quebec has dropped out of the national electricity industry association due to controversy over Kyoto implementation. Last month Canada's largest electric utility pulled out of the 114-year old Canadian Electricity Association, whose members account for about 95% of electric generation capacity in the country. The move reflects a rift between utilities that rely on "dirty" energy sources like coal and companies pushing for their hydroelectricity to be branded as a "clean" climate change solution.Indications are that Canada's Kyoto implementation plan will focus more on relieving the burden for fossil fuel polluters than on economic impetus for companies developing so-called "clean" electricity. Utilities like Hydro-Quebec want the federal carbon emissions trading system to function in such a way that they are rewarded for producing and developing non-GHG-intensive electricity. While hydroelectricity does not involve the smoke stacks associated with coal-fired power generation, it has its own documented legacy of severe and ongoing environmental disruption, particularly degradation of boreal watersheds. View the February 22, 2005 Globe & Mail article View the Canadian Hydropower Association submission to the Council of Environment Ministers (PDF) Source: Globe & Mail |
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