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- US Must Respond to Coal-Plants Submission
- Manitoba Budget Endorses World Heritage Site
- China plans to set up green GDP
- Iceland Dodges Kyoto: Smelter proceeds
- Time To Replace Clearcutting
- Canada to Host Overfishing Conference
- Experts: Global Warming Is Real
- Plans to Reopen Mine Opposed
- Canada's 2005 Budget - How Green?
- Excessive Water Use = Insecure Food Supply
- Wilderness Committee Supports World Heritage Site
- Canada Ranks Sixth In Environmental Sustainability
| US Must Respond to Coal-Plants Submission | 14 March 05 |
 NAFTA's Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has formally requested a response from the US government to allegations that its failure to enforce provisions of the US Clean Water Act regarding coal-fired power plants violates international agreements. A coalition of American and Canadian environmental groups filed a complaint with the CEC in September 2004, demanding an investigation into dramatic increases in mercury contamination of US lakes and rivers in the past decade, including U.S.-Canada border areas.Waterkeeper Alliance and Canada's Sierra Legal Defence Fund filed the submission on behalf of Friends of the Earth Canada, Friends of the Earth-US, Earthroots, Centre for Environmentally Sustainable Development, Great Lakes United, Pollution Probe, Waterkeeper Alliance, and Sierra Club (US and Canada). It alleges that the US Environmental Protection Agency's failure to enforce the law has led to degradation of water bodies and widespread fish consumption restrictions. The CEC made its determination on February 24, 2005 pursuant to Article 14(2) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an environmental watchdog agency created under NAFTA, investigates reports that countries fail to enforce their environmental laws, and thereby gain a trade advantage. The US has 30 days to respond to the allegations. The CEC Secretariat, based in Montreal, then determines whether an international investigation is warranted. View the February 28, 2005 CEC press release Visit the CEC's Citizen's Submissions on Enforcement Matters website regarding Coal-Fired Power Plants View the March 13, 2005 Sierra Legal Defense Fund press release Sources: Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Sierra Legal Defense Fund |
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| Manitoba Budget Endorses World Heritage Site | 10 March 05 |
 The Manitoba Government repeated its support for the First Nation nominated World Heritage Site (WHS) proposal east of Lake Winnipeg in its 2005 Budget speech. In the speech, Finance Minister Greg Selinger stated that Manitoba had "committed to a proposal for a Boreal Forest region on the east side of Lake Winnipeg as a UNESCO World Heritage Site". The WHS also includes: Ontario's Woodland Caribou Park, Manitoba's Atikaki Wilderness Park and traditional lands of up to 5 First Nations.This commitment appears to be backed by resources in the 2005 budget for "maintaining and enhancing Manitoba's network of protected areas". Premier Doer has also indicated that a hydro corridor on the east side of Lake Winnipeg will not be bulit. See Winnipeg Free Press article below. Manitoba Wildlands Director Gaile Whelan Enns welcomed the newest statement of support for the proposed WHS. She indicated that the communities expect Manitoba to place interim protection on two more areas in the WHS early this spring. View an excerpt from the 2005 Budget Speech Water Protection, Natural Areas, and Climate Change (page 13 of speech) View the Winnipeg Free Press November 24, 2004 article (DOC)  Take Action in support of the WHSSource: Government of Manitoba, Manitoba Wildlands |
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| China plans to set up green GDP | 10 March 05 |
 The Chinese government is working on the criteria and indexes of a green GDP, which deducts the cost of environmental damage and resources consumption from the traditional gross domestic product. The new set of criteria is expected to be finished in three to five years.Xu Xianchun, director-general of the department of national accounts of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China, said that the NBS has started the work to set up the calculation system of the green GDP, and some pilot provinces and cities have also been chosen. Xu said the Chinese government is paying more attention to the importance of environment and resources in economic growth. He said the green GDP can help people understand the costs of resources and environment during the economic development, urging people to realize that it is unreasonable to purely seek economic growth while ignoring the importance of the resources and environment. View the China Daily December 3, 2004 news item View the Terra Daily article Source: China Daily |
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| Iceland Dodges Kyoto: Smelter proceeds | 10 March 05 |
 A Kyoto loophole the size of a small nation is allowing U.S.-based aluminum giant Alcoa to build a high-emissions smelter in Iceland. The smelter, which will reportedly replace U.S. operations, will be powered by the massive Kárahnjúkar Hydroelectric Project that stands to dramatically alter one of the largest unspoiled wilderness areas left in Europe.At an industry symposium in 2003, Thorsteinn Hilmarsson, spokesperson for Iceland's National Power Company said: "Iceland was authorized to increase its [Kyoto-related] emissions by 10% from the 1990 level, more than any other country. Due to the Icelandic clause, the international community has allowed Iceland to increase its emissions by up to 60%, thereby accommodating the Alcoa project." Construction of the 690 MW hydro project is well underway with completion slated for 2008. The highest of its five dams will be 193 meters. A major construction contract was awarded to the Italian conglomerate Impregilo, which was implicated in a notorious bribery scandal involving the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (see 'World Bank debars Manitoba Hydro consultant', Manitoba Wildlands article). View the Guardian 2003 article View the IRN report on the Kárahnjúkar hydro project (PDF) View the Orion magazine article Visit the Iceland Nature Conservation Association website Visit the Kárahnjúkar project website Sources: International Rivers Network, The Guardian, Orion |
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| Time To Replace Clearcutting | 08 March 05 |
 The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is calling on forest companies to adopt alternatives to clearcutting outlined in a new report released February 28, 2005. Clearcutting is used for about 90% of all logging in Canada and even more frequently in the Boreal region - which houses some of the world's largest remaining intact forests and is the site of more than one-half of the country's forestry operations."Clearcutting harms wildlife habitat, water quality and biodiversity. We produced this report to show companies and governments that viable alternatives exist. We are calling on companies to phase in these alternatives over the next five years. And we are calling on governments to mandate these alternatives," says report co-author Chris Henschel of the CPAWS-Wildlands League - an Ontario chapter of the national conservation organization. A Cut Above: Alternatives to Clearcutting in Canada's Boreal Forest, by forestry professor Andrew Park of the University of Winnipeg and others, represents the first systematic assessment of alternative approaches to clearcutting in Canada's Boreal region. The report also discusses the economics of alternative approaches. View the February 28, 2005 Wildlands League press release View the full report A Cut Above: A look at alternatives to clearcutting in Canada's boreal forest (PDF) View the Executive Summary of A Cut Above View background information on forest issues and clearcutting in Canada Source: CPAWS-Wildlands League |
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| Canada to Host Overfishing Conference | 08 March 05 |
 Canada will host an international conference and welcome approximately 70 countries in May 2005 to discuss how to protect the world's fish stocks from overfishing.Officials with the Department of Fisheries say the talks will focus on the 1995 United Nations Fish Agreement designed to help protect fish stocks, and how to make it more effective. Canada is no stranger to the issue of overfishing. In April 2003, almost 11 years after the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans imposed a moratorium on cod fishing off Newfoundland, the federal fisheries minister, Robert Thibault, announced the outright closure of what remained of the cod fishery in Newfoundland, the Maritime provinces and Quebec. The closure came six years after the previous ban was ended for the south coast of Newfoundland. In May 2004, Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan announced a limited re-opening of the cod fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The decision was based on a report for the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council that said the industry will have to devise a conservation plan before the fishery is reopened. View the January 20, 2005 CBC article View the CBC Indepth story on Fishing Source: CBC News Online |
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| Experts: Global Warming Is Real | 08 March 05 |
 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 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," Barnett told a news conference. "The debate over whether or not there is a global warming signal is now over, at least for rational people," he said. The report was published one day after the United Nations Kyoto Protocol took effect, a 141-nation environmental pact the United States government has spurned for several reasons, including stated doubts about whether global warming is occurring and is caused by people. View the February 18, 2005 Wired News article View the Scripps Institution of Oceanography News page View the February 19, 2005 Common Dreams article View the February 17, 2005 BBC article Sources: Reuters, Wired News |
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| Plans to Reopen Mine Opposed | 03 March 05 |
 B.C. based environmental groups have joined the Taku River Tlingit First Nation in criticizing the January 2005 preliminary federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans decision to approve the Tulsequah Chief mine in northern B.C., citing that the project is "not likely" to pose an environmental risk."Try to imagine building a 160-kilometre road into a pristine wilderness watershed, the construction of over 200 water crossings, and the operation of a contaminating mine on the banks of a salmon-rich river without any significant environmental impacts," said Transboundary Watershed Alliance (TWA) spokesman David MacKinnon. TWA joins the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, whose traditional territory would be affected by the project in opposing the mine. In a February 22, 2005 news conference, the First Nation demanded that Ottawa rescind its approval of the Tulsequah Chief Mine project. John Ward, spokesperson for the First Nation, told an Ottawa news conference the federal government's recent approval of the mining project is misguided and inappropriate. "We want to see sustainability, not just for our people, but for all the other interests in our traditional territory. Right now we need to see this process halted until that good work is done." While making the announcement, Ward was flanked by famed anthropologist Wade Davis and ecologist Daniel Botkin. He said he has support of thousands of other environmentalists as well, including Robert Kennedy Jr. who submitted assessment comments to Canada's Environment Minister. Redfern Ventures Ltd. of Toronto is attempting to reopen an old mining property called Tulsequah Chief, about 100 kilometres south of Atlin, B.C. and 64 kilometres northeast of Juneau, Alaska. The company has already received approval from the B.C. government but the project has faced delays in receiving approval at the federal level. View the Vancouver Sun February 15, 2005 article (DOC) View the February 22, 2005 CBC North article on the Taku River Tligit news conference View the Transboundary Watershed Alliance Backgrounder and Update on the Taku Watershed View the Transboundary Watershed Alliance Timeline for the Tulsequah Chief Mine View Robert Kennedy Jr.'s assessment letter to the Environment Minister (PDF) View the February 26, 2005 Globe & Mail article Sources: Vancouver Sun, Transboundary Watershed Alliance, CBC North |
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| Canada's 2005 Budget - How Green? | 03 March 05 |
 The February 23, 2005 Canadian Budget is billed as the largest environment budget ever for Canada. Most expenditures are spread over five years or more. The Budget includes a fourth priority area: 'Moving towards a green economy and sustainable communities.' Over the next five years $5 billion has been allocated to support a sustainable environment by: addressing climate change; encouraging investment in efficient and renewable energy; public infrastructure investments to encourage energy efficiency; remediation of brownfield sites; and protecting our natural environment, including The Great Lakes, oceans and national parks. Manitoba Premier Gary Doer was elated that Minister Goodale referred to the east-west power grid as a possible project under the new Clean Energy Fund. The Premier has lobbied hard for federal support for an east-west power grid. Transmission infrastructure is critical to Manitoba Hydro projects like the sale of power to the Ontario market from the proposed Conawapa dam in northern Manitoba. Gaile Whelan Enns, Manitoba Wildlands director, welcomed almost $900 million over five years to protect our natural environment, however she cautioned the public to keep in mind those things that weren't in the budget. "We hoped the budget address would identify the importance of Canada's boreal forest regions- in the face of climate change. More carbon and more freshwater than any other ecosystem make conservation and protection of our boreal forest regions the barometer of success for Canada's Kyoto plan. Upcoming release of Canada's Kyoto plan is the next opportunity for Canada to act on our boreal forests' critical role in climate change." Visit the Federal Budget 2005 web site View the 2005 Federal Budget Speech (PDF) View page 17 of the Budget Speech re: East-West Grid (DOC) Visit the Green Budget Coalition View the February 24, 2005 Winnipeg Free Press Article (DOC) Sources: Government of Canada, Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba Wildlands |
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| Excessive Water Use = Insecure Food Supply | 03 March 05 |
 Excessive use of water for irrigation is jeopardizing the security of continued world food production according to a new book published by the Earth Policy Institute.Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures argues that as the world's economy grows, its demands are outgrowing the earth, exceeding many of the planet's natural capacities to provide food, water, and the basic needs of daily living. "In recent months, rising oil prices have focused the world's attention on the depletion of oil reserves... There are substitutes for oil, but there are no substitutes for water," says author Lester R. Brown, President and Founder of the Earth Policy Institute. Water tables are now falling in countries that contain over half the world's people. Rising temperatures are the second big threat to future food security. During the last few years, crop ecologists have found that each 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature during the growing season reduces the yield of grain-wheat, rice, and corn-by 10 percent. The three principal steps needed to secure future world food supplies are worldwide efforts to raise water productivity, cut carbon emissions, and stabilize population. View the book, Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures and the accompanying press release Source: Earth Policy Institute |
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| Wilderness Committee Supports World Heritage Site | 01 March 05 |
 During 2004 the Manitoba government received over 5000 letters from supporters of the Manitoba Wilderness Committee regarding the future of boreal forest regions on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. The letters request that the provincial NDP government honour their commitments to conservation, sustainable economies, and community consultations in the region. The Wilderness Committee commends the Manitoba government for recently stating its support for the future 43,000 square kilometer World Heritage Site that straddles the Manitoba-Ontario border. It is essential that the Manitoba government confirm its support for this future World Heritage Site by issuing interim protection from development, as requested by Manitoba First Nation communities who nominated their traditional lands as a World Heritage Site. Interim protection action will allow for community and conservation based land use planning. Send the Wilderness Committee Take Action letter.
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| Canada Ranks Sixth In Environmental Sustainability | 01 March 05 |
 Topped by Finland, Norway, Uruguay, Sweden and Iceland respectively, Canada ranks sixth (of 146 countries) in environmental sustainability according to the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) produced by environmental experts at Yale and Columbia Universities. The ESI ranks countries on 21 elements of environmental sustainability covering natural resource endowments, past and present pollution levels, environmental management efforts, contributions to protection of the global commons, and a society's capacity to improve its environmental performance over time. "The ESI provides a valuable policy tool, allowing benchmarking of environmental performance country-by-country and issue-by-issue," said Daniel C. Esty, professor at Yale University and the creator of the ESI. The index is the second produced in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. The first complete index, in 2002, produced outrage and soul-searching in lower-ranking countries like Belgium and South Korea. View the January 26, 2005 Yale University press release Visit the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index View the January 24, 2005 New York Times article (DOC) Sources: Yale University, New York Times |
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