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- Obama Challenges Sounds Alarm on Climate Change
- Energy East Risks Too Great
- Obama's Clean Power Plan
- Time To Cap Blowout Irresponsible
- Second Lake Winnipeg Channel: No First Nation Consent
- Lake Winnipeg Aboriginal Consultations Promised
- VanCity Mutual Divests
- Manitoba Diesel Communities Need Help
- Canada Needs Clean Energy Tech Action
- Oil Moratorium Extended On Georges Bank
- Mayors Meet Pope Seek Bold Climate Agreement
- U.N. Says Roundup Probable Carcinogen
| Obama Challenges Sounds Alarm on Climate Change | 4 September 15 |
"We’re not moving fast enough. None of the nations represented here are moving fast enough," Obama said, sounding like your loving but constantly disappointed uncle in one of his rare moments of anger: "This is within our power. This is a solvable problem if we start now. We’re starting to see that enough consensus is being built internationally, and within each of our own body politics, that we may have the political will – finally – to get moving. "The time to heed the critics and the cynics and the (climate) deniers is passed. The time to plead ignorance is surely passed. Those who want to ignore the science, they are increasingly alone. They are on their own shrinking island. If we were to abandon our course of action ... we will condemn our children to a planet beyond their capacity to repair. "Any leader willing to take a gamble on a future like that – any so-called leader who doesn’t take this issue seriously or treats it like a joke – is not fit to lead."
View September 2, 2015 The Globe and Mail article |
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| Energy East Risks Too Great | 15 August 15 |
"What we have found is there is an imbalance between the economic and environmental risks of the project and the expected benefits for Ontarians," said OEB vice-president Peter Fraser as he released a report on Energy East. TransCanada's Energy East pipeline project would convert an up to 40-year-old natural gas pipeline to carry crude oil from Alberta to Ontario, connecting it with new pipeline through Quebec and on to Saint John, New Brunswick. It would be the largest oil pipeline in North America, transporting 1.1 million barrels of oil every day – primarily for export. After 15 months of consultations with people in communities along the Ontario route of the pipeline, the Ontario energy board found residents are worried about leaks. "The top concern expressed was the risk of an oil spill as the pipeline runs near or across many waterways," Fraser said. "Our advice is that for the existing pipeline, when it is too close to environmentally sensitive areas, it should be rerouted unless it can be justified by TransCanada as necessary." Greenpeace welcomed the OEB's conclusion that the risks of the pipeline project outweigh the benefits. "Given the new realities of low oil prices and a global push for action on climate change, this project is high risk and low reward for the entire country and not just Ontario," said Greenpeace spokesman Keith Stewart.
View August 13, 2015 The Hamilton Spectator article |
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| Obama's Clean Power Plan | 15 August 15 |
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Obama's emission reduction Clean Power Plan is designed to cut emissions from power plants and is being strengthened in terms of the long-term emission reduction ambition proposed by the U.S. president in 2015. His plan in the short-term is a concession to states reliant on highly-polluting coal. White House adviser Brian Deese said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules represented the "biggest step that any single president has made to curb the carbon pollution that is fuelling climate change". The US is the world's second biggest carbon emitter after China. Describing the rules of Obama's Clean Power Plan, as very important, Lord Stern, the author of an influential reviews of the economics of climate change, said: "It shows the determination of the world's richest country to maintain better economic growth while also cutting greenhouse gas pollution. President Obama has recognised in particular the enormous damage caused by pollution from the burning of coal in power stations."
View August 3, 2015 Climate Progress article |
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| Time To Cap Blowout Irresponsible | 15 August 15 |
Shell Canada's spill containment plan, accepted by the agency, says it can have a primary capping stack in place within 12 to 21 days after a blowout off southern Nova Scotia. Leona Aglukkaq's decision to approve an offshore drilling plan from Shell that allows up to 21 days to contain a subsea blowout, despite the U.S. requiring the same company to cap blowouts within 24 hours is both unthinkable and irresponsible. The most recent U.S. ruling in Alaska — where Shell wants to conduct an exploratory drilling project - requires a capping stack to be on hand for a blowout within 24 hours. WWF-Canada works to ensure offshore oil and gas activities in Canadian waters are carried out in a safe and responsible manner, and supports the U.S. decision to require a capping stack be onsite within 24 hours of a blowout. "The Shelburne Basin is next to some of Canada's richest fishing grounds and supports endangered marine wildlife including right whales, blue whales and leatherback turtles. Allowing up to 21 days to cap a blowout off the coast of Nova Scotia could have a devastating impact on the province's marine environment, its fisheries and the people who depend on them.' Said WWF-Canada President and CEO David Miller: "Canada needs to put regulations in place that ensure development does not come at the expense of the environment."
View August 7, 2015 World Wildlife Fund Canada article |
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| Second Lake Winnipeg Channel: No First Nation Consent | 15 August 15 |
Manitoba First Nation leaders are angry with a $495-million plan to build flood outlets, arguing that governments still haven't dealt with damages from the 2011 flood that displaced thousands of First Nations people. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says while it's not opposed to flood diversion projects, the provincial and federal governments should help flood victims — some of whom are still out of their homes, four years later — before spending money on new projects. Grand Chief Derek Nepinak sent a letter to Premier Greg Selinger Tuesday, August 11, 2015, advising him the AMC would not support the Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin Outlet Channels Project and invited him to address the organization. The response from Nepinak and the affected First Nations comes less than two weeks after the federal government announced $165 million -- and the province $330 million -- to fund the channel project. "What you can see by packaging the federal money with the provincial money and announcing a half-a-billion-dollar investment it's a politically expedient way to try to shore up votes," Nepinak said Wednesday at a rally outside the Legislative Building. "The tragedies that have unfolded here in the Interlake, they're more than a politically expedient matter to be dealt with at the whim of politicians." "The federal government, the provincial government are going to try and put a channel through without settling outstanding claims lawfully owed to our communities. We're not going to stand for it," Nepinak said. The affected First Nations seek full compensation payments for 2011 damage before any more water engineering projects. Manitoba government commitments for environmental studies and aboriginal consultation remain outstanding for both channels.
View August 12, 2015 Aboriginal Peoples Television Network article |
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| Lake Winnipeg Aboriginal Consultations Promised | 31 July 15 |
Despite the Clean Environment Commission hearings about Lake Winnipeg Regulation ending in April 2015 with their report due August 2015, Section 35 consultations had not started yet. The government sent a package to about 40 communities deemed to be affected by regulation of Lake Winnipeg water levels in early 2014. Premier Selinger made the commitment for Aboriginal Consultations in Manitoba when he held a two day event with Manitoba First Nations and his ministers, in Brokenhead June 2010. At the time a five year fund was established. Projects such as Bipole III, Keeyask Generation Station, and various mining dispositions, road building, and other projects have been subject to community consultation. The standards Manitoba is applying to these community consultations are from 2009. No First Nation or Metis review was involved before the standards were put in place. The same day an Assistant Deputy Minister in Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship was attending a Lake Winnipeg gathering in Brokenhead. To see the questions and his answers about Lake Winnipeg consultations see link below.
View June 3, 2015 Manitoba Wildlands Comments from Brokenhead Ojibway Nation meeting |
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| VanCity Mutual Divests | 31 July 15 |
"Our members have been asking for something like this for a while now," Vancity chief operating officer Rick Sielski said in an interview. "It's a convergence around what makes sense from a risk return investment for our members while satisfying their need to really put their money where their heart and values are." Vancity is dumping Enbridge holdings because they fall beneath its standard of a socially responsible investment, announced the credit union. According to Vancity, the mutual funds are supposed to prioritize investment in Canadian companies that are profitable, have a record of sustainable practices and are socially responsible. Vancity made its decision to divest based on a report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board on Enbridge's 2010 oil spill. At least 843,000 gallons of crude spilled into Michigan's Talmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River.
View May 1, 2015 The Vancouver Sun article |
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| Manitoba Diesel Communities Need Help | 31 July 15 |
This agreement comes on the heels of the Council of the Federation’s announcement of the Canadian Energy Strategy, which identified energy in off-grid communities as a priority. In Canada, there are nearly 300 off-grid communities with a total population of approximately 200,000 people. These communities include Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal settlements, villages or cities as well as long-term commercial outposts and camps for mining, fishing and forestry activities. Of these sites, approximately 175 are indigenous communities (First Nations, Innu, Inuit or Métis) with approximately 130,000 residents. The Pan-Canadian Task Force will be chaired by Manitoba, and consist of officials from each of the provincial and territorial ministries and agencies that have policy responsibility for electricity supply in remote off-grid communities and remote off-grid aboriginal communities. This initiative is long overdue. Forty years in fact. Communities like Shamattawa First Nation have hydro dams and converter stations in their back yard but no roads and no electricity. Forty years and no action has been taken by Manitoba Hydro or the Manitoba government.
View July 21, 2015 Ontario Government news release |
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| Canada Needs Clean Energy Tech Action | 31 July 15 |
The world is undergoing an energy transformation. It is the start of a necessary shift away from the fossil fuels we depend upon today for mobility, heat, and other services, and towards clean, safe, renewable, and locally available sources that will meet the majority of our energy needs indefinitely. This clean energy transition won't happen overnight, but it is also closer than many of us believe. In the coming few decades it will unleash profound changes in how citizens live, work, and move. Compared to many European countries and communities, we do not see a great deal of evidence of the energy transition in Canada. "If the global economy were a baseball game, a home run would be heading straight for the clean-energy industry—but Canada hasn't even left the dugout. We've lost out on nearly $9 billion in clean-energy export opportunities in 2013 alone. We need a plan to transition our economy and reap the benefits of the growth and jobs that come with it." Sarah Petrevan, Senior Policy Advisor, Clean Energy Canada
View July 29, 2015 NRDC Switchboard blog post |
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| Oil Moratorium Extended On Georges Bank | 24 July 15 |
Georges Bank is perhaps best known for its abundance of haddock, halibut and scallops. The vast, shallow stretch of the sea floor is also home to rare and endangered species of whales and turtles that migrate through its nutrient-rich waters about 100 kilometres offshore. A preliminary review is researching potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of offshore petroleum activities on Georges Bank, if permitted. Another study is assessing technologies and practices in offshore exploration, drilling and production that have been developed since the 1999 Georges Bank review.
View July 20, 2015 DeSmog Canada article |
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| Mayors Meet Pope Seek Bold Climate Agreement | 24 July 15 |
The two day conference was the first time it specifically invited local officials, hoping to mobilize grass-roots action and maintain pressure on world leaders for action ahead of a global summit meeting on climate change scheduled for December in Paris. Pope Francis told the gathering that he had "a lot of hope" that the Paris negotiations would succeed, but also warned the mayors: "You are the conscience of humanity." Pope Francis' other main priority has been to raise awareness about human trafficking. The Vatican conference is aimed at showing how both are related: The exploitation of the Earth and its most vulnerable people, with global warming often responsible for creating "environmental refugees" forced to flee homes because of drought or other climate-induced natural disasters.
View July 21, 2015 CBC News article |
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| U.N. Says Roundup Probable Carcinogen | 24 July 15 |
Roundup and generic versions of glyphosate are still the most widely used herbicides in the world. As of 2012, it was the top choice of New York City for killing weeds in its parks. Farmers like Roundup because "Roundup Ready" versions of crops like corn and soybeans have been modified to specifically tolerate the herbicide, allowing growers to spray Roundup widely across their fields without damaging their crops. The United States and other international regulatory bodies have backed the safety of glyphosate when used as directed, but the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) report cited studies that raised concerns about glyphosate and impacts on health. "There are a number of independent, published manuscripts that clearly indicate that glyphosate ... can promote cancer and tumor growth," said Dave Schubert, head of the cellular neurobiology laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. "It should be banned."
View June 15, 2015 Newsweek article |
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