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Stemming from the Water Charter, adopted by Premiers in August 2010, Premiers established this new award in recognition that water is critical to human and ecosystem health. A sustainable water supply ensures our communities are liveable and economically viable whether they are large urban centres or remote or rural communities.

"On behalf of all Premiers, I want to congratulate the first-ever recipients of the Council of the Federation Excellence in Water Stewardship Award," said Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, Chair of the Council of the Federation. "These awards are an important mechanism for change as they bring deserved recognition to the champions of water stewardship and inspire all Canadians to take action."

Manitoba's Lake Winnipeg Foundation is a recipient this year.

The speech was peppered with notable nods to the movement-building work undertaken by the environmental community, with a clear acknowledgment of Bill McKibben and 350.org. Bill McKibben responded to Obama's speech by saying "The world desperately needs climate leadership, and today Barack Obama showed he might turn out to be the guy who provided it." Limiting emissions from coal plants appears to first up.

"Over the next few months, we will introduce the 500 kilovolt (kV) alternating current (AC) international transmission line project to the public and gather input to develop a full public engagement process that will begin in early fall of 2013. This public engagement process will provide numerous opportunities for the public to learn more about the project and share their interests and concerns with Manitoba Hydro," said Shannon Johnson, Manager of Licensing and Environmental Assessment at Manitoba Hydro. "The first steps in the process include informing Manitoba Hydro customers and landowners of the project and initiating contact with municipal and Aboriginal leaders and interest groups."

The new transmission line is to carry energy to U.S. customers.

A new regulation under Manitoba's Mines Act was signed and registered June 3, 2013. The regulation blocks any new peat leases being issued, and blocks extension of existing peat mine operations from being put forward for licensing under the Environment Act. See link to regulation below.

On February 25, 2013 the Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship department issued a press release about peat mining and the freezing of peat leases. The announcement (no further verification is available beyond the press release ) indicated that no peat mining would occur in Manitoba's parks. It also suspended "any new Environment Act applications or approvals for peat mining operations in Manitoba until the stewardship strategy is implemented."

The current proposal under the Environment Act for an expanded peat mining operation licence to Sunterra was allowed to continue, and continues in the review and licensing process. Hundreds of Manitobans have objected to this proposal under the Act. It is also situated in Washow Peninsula.

Minister Mackintosh also directed that Manitoba buy out SunGro's leases and application for a peat mine environment licence in Grindstone, a peninsula within Helca provincial park.

Two First Nations, Peguis and Fisher River First Nations, are currently undertaking community reviews of the Sunterra proposal. Both communities waited eight months for approved funding to undertake their community processes.

The call came as the latest round of talks closed in Bonn today, June 14th, with incremental progress on the shape of a comprehensive climate deal to be agreed in 2015. Greenpeace UK political advisor Ruth Davis said a deadline for pledges was vital for the negotiations to remain on track.

"This deadline is needed partly to give enough time to assess the pledges against the latest climate science, and partly so that countries can compare their efforts," Davis said. "Having enough time to negotiate these targets is vital to avoiding the kind of last minute scramble that made the 2009 Copenhagen summit such a disaster."

These negotiations were held against a backdrop of the worst recorded flooding in Eastern Europe and extreme weather in the US. German and New York officials stated this week that they would spend billions fortifying their cities against future extreme weather, showing that the costs of climate change are already being tallied in rich countries as well as poor.

Source: Care2.com

The spill was first discovered June 1st, near Zama City, roughly 100 kilometres south of the Northwest Territories border. Texas-based Apache Corporation, the oil company responsible for the spill, released their estimate of its size on June 12th.

"Every plant and tree died" in the area touched by the spill, said James Ahnassay, Chief of the Dene Tha First Nation, whose members run traplines in an area that has seen oil and gas development since the 1950s. Produced-water leaks are considered easier to clean up than oil spills. But the Dene Tha suspect this is a long-standing spill that may have gone undetected for months, given the widespread damage it has done. Apache and the Alberta government say its duration is under investigation.

As a consultant for the oil and gas industry for thirty years, Ernst became concerned about its impacts when they began to hit home "I am living with dangerous contamination after EnCana hydraulically fractured my community's drinking water aquifers."

"Jessica Ernst has made a strong case," says Will Koop, BC Tapwater Alliance Coordinator. "Her collection provides excellent and technically friendly working tools, enabling the public to draw their own conclusions from the critical information. This is not just an invaluable document for North Americans, but for the world."

Ernst's 93-page report, Brief Review of Threats to Groundwater from the Oil and Gas Industry's Methane Migration and Hydraulic Fracturing, will be a game-changing document, providing little wiggle room for private industry and government spokespeople advocating fracking be immune from public concern, criticism and liability.

Bipole III is a 1400 km direct current 500 kv transmission system from the northern portion of the Nelson River where new generation stations are planned, that travels across the north, down the west side of the province, and then through southern Manitoba to Winnipeg. New green energy from new generation stations is expected to travel on the new system.

Transcripts, exhibits, and various filings and presentations from the hearings are on line at the CEC website.

Manitoba Wildlands has also maintained a record of all documents, events, motions, and decisions in the Bipole III process, and has been active in public reviews of the project since 2010.

Engineers are designing plans for boosting Lake Manitoba outlet capacity. The increase to the Manitoba provincial sales tax will pay for $250 million in flood infrastructure.

Over 800 homes, businesses and farms around Lake Manitoba were flooded in 2011. Several First Nations were flooded, with mass evacuations involved. Damages to property, and evacuations from 2011 are ongoing in 2013.

Carbon dioxide emissions fell last year to their lowest point since 1994, according to the Department of Energy. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were 12% below 2005 levels. Methane is released when natural gas deposits are drilled open, excess gas is burned off at a well site, and when permafrost melts and arctic oceans warm up releasing trapped methane crystals from the cold layers of water under arctic sea ice.

"I do not need to remind you that we simply cannot afford not to deliver implementation results urgently," Chief of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Christiana Figueres told delegates.

Greenpeace chief Kumi Naidoo warned not to put too much faith in the UN on climate, adding that he had "no reason to have even any sense of optimism" that anything has changed since the last UNFCCC meeting failed in Doha, Qatar last December.

"The UN negotiating system is cumbersome, it is problematic, it is tedious. However, the UN, warts and all, is the best and only vehicle we have to ensure we can move forward as a united global family to address climate change."

"Toronto's success demonstrates it is possible for a growing, thriving city to reduce climate change pollution. De-coupling growth and carbon is a trajectory we need to keep moving along" says Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) CEO Julia Langer. Since 1990, Toronto's economy has grown by about 70%, population has grown by 15% yet GHG emissions have fallen.

TAF has been sparking action on climate, air pollution and energy use in Toronto for 20 years. Internationally recognized for its innovative and effective programs, TAF has helped Toronto save more than $55 million on energy costs and helped citizens live greener lives in healthier communities.