|
Home > News > What's New
What's New Archives | News Releases | Publications
| Photos | Twitter | Facebook
Climate debate: time to move on August 31, 2010
Toronto Star In a world rife with conspiracy theories, disproving a plot is never easy. But when it comes to “Climategate,” it’s time to move on. more
Bjørn Lomborg: $100bn a year needed to fight climate change August 30, 2010
Juliette Jowit, guardian.co.uk The world's most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is "undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today" and "a challenge humanity must confront", in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby. more
Elevated
levels of toxins found in Athabasca River August 30, 2010
Josh Wingrove, The Globe and Mail
A study set to be published on Monday has found elevated levels of mercury, lead and eleven other toxic elements in the oil sands’ main fresh water source, the Athabasca River, refuting long-standing government and industry claims that water quality there hasn’t been affected by oil sands development. more
Toyota 'plugs-in' to a new sustainable mobility evolution delivers in Ontario
Toyota
August 29, 2010
A new era in sustainable mobility begins in Ontario, as Toyota Canada delivered a Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid (Prius PHV) to its provincial testing partners at a ceremony today...
"The McGuinty government is pleased to be a partner in this pilot project, which will help provide us with data needed to build province-wide charging infrastructure for electric vehicles - a core element of our Smart Grid vision," said Brad Duguid, Minister of Energy. more
Exploration for natural gas causes consternation in Quebec August 29, 2010
Les Perreaux, The Globe and Mail In most places west of Manitoba, the arrival of yet another oil or gas drilling rig is cause for little notice or concern. In Quebec, a half dozen gas wells and the potential of hundreds more may be about to set off a new kind of identity crisis. more
Wilder
fires: B.C. fires herald infernos to come
August 28, 2010
Thane
Burnett, QMI Agency
Sure, Lucky for him.
But what
about the rest of us facing future blazes?
In the middle of the
mobilization of a nation — men, women and machines from across Canada
placed around the burning forests of B.C. — he huddled singed and, if
you can guess at such a thing, likely afraid. more
On the bright side, the PM did say ‘climate change’ August 27, 2010
Jeffrey Simpson, The Globe and Mail His teeth must have been gritted, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper did manage to utter the words “climate change” during this annual Arctic tour. more
Tar Sands: is this the real Canada? August 27, 2010
Kumi Naidoo, Huffington Post Much of what I used to know about Canada stands in stark contrast to the devastation I found in the tar sands of northern Alberta.
Canada, from my experience, is a nation that championed the global pursuit of peace and environmental protection. The historic Ottawa Treaty that abolished the use of landmines and the Montreal Protocol that took swift action to protect our ozone layer exemplify the Canada I knew.
I have watched in disappointment as Canadian politicians, policy makers, and lobbyists have done everything in their power to sabotage climate protection talks and keep a world that is addicted to oil hooked on their supply. more
Am I an activist for caring about my grandchildren's future? I guess I am August 26, 2010
James Hansen, guardian.co.uk "How did you become an activist?" I was surprised by the question. I never considered myself an activist. I am a slow-paced taciturn scientist from the Midwest US. Most of my relatives are pretty conservative. I can imagine attitudes at home toward "activists". more
Why data matter August 26, 2010
The Ottawa Citizen When Canada has trouble measuring how much snow is on the ground, something is seriously wrong with the state of government research.
An internal Environment Canada report from 2008, released through an access to information request, shows that cuts to the Meteorological Service of Canada have left this country without accurate weather data. We're not talking about a lack of money for fancy computer models or self-indulgent research projects. No, this is about basic measurement of stuff like temperature, rainfall and hours of sunshine. more See the report released under Access to Information: Degradation in Environment Canada's Climate Network, Quality Control and Data Storage Practices: A Call to Repair the Damage Related: Troubling Evidence: The Harper Government's Approach to Climate Science Research in Canada
Yes, we broke the law as climate change activists. And this is why August 25, 2010
Dan Glass, The Guardian In June 2010, nine climate change activists who had broken into Aberdeen airport in protest against the soaring CO2
emissions caused by aviation were convicted of a breach of the peace.
On 25 August, after taking our urgent message on climate change
seriously, the judge and court imposed on us very modest fines,
ranging from £300 to £700 each and adding up to a total of
£4,000-£5,000. This was the first climate trial in Scotland's history.
Here's why it's unlikely to be the last. more
Long-term projection of health costs key, A-G warns August 25, 2010
Meagan Fitzpatrick, Postmedia News Governments need to do a better job of telling Canadians how their
health dollars are being spent and start making long-term projections
to prepare for the aging population, auditor-general Sheila Fraser said
Tuesday. more
Environment Canada losing grasp of climate change August 25, 2010
National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) Cuts to the Environment Canada weather service are compromising
Canada's ability to assess climate change and undermining the quality
of information available across the country's data network. more
Oilsands proposal draws protest August 24, 2010
Mike De Souza,Postmedia News A battle is brewing over a proposed oilsands project by a French-based
company that has drawn more than two dozen opponents from Canada, the
U.S. and France at today's deadline for submissions to a joint
federal-provincial environmental review panel. more
Police arrest 12 Climate Camp protesters August 24, 2010
Severin Carrell, The Guardian Police arrested 12 climate campaigners during yesterday's protests in Edinburgh against the Royal Bank of Scotland's funding of the oil and mining industries. One man was charged with assault. more
Hamilton: Nova Scotia joins Canada’s green energy club August 23, 2010
Tyler Hamilton, Toronto Star I’m sitting in the office of Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter last Tuesday and he directs me to a green-tinted glass award sitting on a coffee table.
The award, received by Dexter at the Copenhagen climate summit in December 2009, recognizes Nova Scotia for creating the first law in North America to put a hard cap on carbon emissions. more
Budget cuts compromise weather data, report warns August 23, 2010
Mike De Souza, Postmedia News Sustained cuts to Environment Canada weather-service programs have compromised the government's ability to assess climate change and left it with a "profoundly disturbing" quality of information in its data network, says an internal government report. more
Resource wars: the global crisis behind BHP Billiton's bid for Potash Corp August 22, 2010
Richard Wachman, The Observer BHP Billiton's £28bn hostile bid for Canada's Potash Corporation sets the scene for one of mining's biggest takeover battles. But this is more than a clash between multinationals intent on self-aggrandisement. more
Russian heat wave dents hopes of climate "winners" August 20, 2010
Alister Doyle, Reuters Canada, Nordic countries and Russia have been
portrayed as among a lucky few chilly nations where moderate climate
change will mean net benefits such as lower winter heating bills, more
forest and crop growth and perhaps more summer tourism. more
Small changes August 20, 2010
Paul Hanley, Postmedia News The environmental movement has always encouraged individuals to change
their lifestyles to help the planet. But how much difference could
individuals actually make if they changed their behaviours en masse? more
Climate campers target the bankers August 19, 2010
Will Stone, Morning Star More than 200 climate activists are laying siege to the Royal Bank of
Scotland headquarters in Edinburgh in protest against the bank's oil
investments. more
Activists set up Climate Camp at Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters August 19, 2010
Severin Carrell, The Guardian Hundreds of climate activists have occupied land at the Royal Bank of Scotland's headquarters in protest at its multi-billion pound loans to the oil and mining industries, including firms involved in exploiting Canadian tar sands. more
Canada Should Not Wait for the US on Climate Change, New CIC Paper Argues August 19, 2010
Laura Sunderland, Canadian International Council (CIC) The Canadian government has decided that its climate change response
will be closely linked to that of the United States. However, the
Canadian government does not yet have a strategy to meet its Copenhagen
target of a 17-percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2020 and seems
unlikely to develop such a plan until there is clarification on how the
United States will meet its target. more Read the full report: Climate Change and Foreign Policy in Canada: Intersection and Influence
Pakistan: The duty to care August 19, 2010
The Vancouver Sun The news out of Pakistan is heartbreaking. Uncounted numbers who have
clambered or walked to safety, awaiting rescue, are now dying slowly of
starvation, dehydration and water-borne disease. more
Why it matters that spilled Michigan oil came from tar sands August 16, 2010
Jonathan Hiskes, Grist Brace yourselves for
this: An energy executive has been caught bending the truth to downplay an
environmental disaster. Shocking, I know. more
Think twice about visiting Canada until it abandons tar sands destruction August 18, 2010
Kenny Bruno, The Guardian If you're still planning your summer holiday, don't be fooled by Canada's
green image and Alberta's famed Rocky Mountains. Canada is the
surprising home to the most destructive project on Earth, the Alberta
tar sands. more
Punish climate change deniers August 17, 2010
Rene Ebacher, Toronto Star By avoiding its responsibility to fight climate change, the government
of Canada is guilty of letting millions of people suffer around the
world. Stephen Harper and his “climate change denying” friends and
acolytes in the business industry, should be tried under the
International Criminal Court and condemned as environmental criminals. more
Day 6 of the Gulf oil spill impacts expedition: The science of truth August 17, 2010
Paul Horsman, TckTckTck Just some days before I came out to join Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise on
August 4, headlines from a NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration) press conference said that ‘the vast majority of the
oil from the BP spill has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed,
recovered from the wellhead or dispersed’. more
Canadian cities going green on roads and in buildings August 15, 2010
The Canadian Press Vancouver has vowed to become the greenest city in the world by 2020.
New condos in Toronto are going up without any parking spaces. Regina
is doing away with one-way streets to improve public transit access in
a revitalized downtown. more
‘Healing walk’ in northern Alberta marches on oilsands-area highway August 14, 2010
Brent Wittmeier, Edmonton Journal The stretch of Highway 63 between Fort McMurray and Fort MacKay is
lined with gaping chasms, lifeless tailings ponds, smokestacks, and
piles of sulphur. Those features — telltale signs of open-pit
oilsands mining — are partly why 100 protesters held a 13 kilometre
“healing walk” north of Fort McMurray on Saturday. more
In Weather Chaos, a Case for Global Warming August 14, 2010
Justin Gillis, The New York Times
[...] The summer’s heat waves baked the eastern United States, parts of Africa and eastern Asia, and above all Russia, which lost millions of acres of wheat and thousands of lives in a drought worse than any other in the historical record. more
How the Tar Sands Threaten Canada's Economic Fate August 13, 2010
Andrew Nikiforuk,The Tyee Every week Canada's least favorite Emir, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach,
earnestly lectures Canadians that the mighty tar sands are a boon to
the national economy because "Alberta's engine drives Canada." more
“Tell it like it is” oil sands campaign requires facts August 13, 2010
Simon Dyer, The Pembina Institute We think it's a shame the government of Alberta doesn't hold themselves
to the same standard they hold those that disagree with them. more
Premier Gordon Campbell urges California legislators to review energy imports August 12, 2010
Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun VANCOUVER — British Columbia continued this week to press California for changes to climate legislation that makes it difficult for B.C. to sell renewable power to the U.S. state. more
Millions Of Barrels Of Oil Safely Reach Port In Major Environmental Catastrophe August 11, 2010
The Onion In what may be the greatest environmental disaster in the nation's history, the supertanker TI Oceania
docked without incident at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Monday and
successfully unloaded 3.1 million barrels of dangerous crude oil into
the United States. more
Replace nuclear plant with green power, coalition urges August 10, 2010
John Spears Ontario would save money by replacing the aging Pickering nuclear station with electricity from renewable sources, says a coalition of environmental groups. more
Green energy upgrade protects Ontarians from rising nuclear costs August 10, 2010
Renewable Is Doable Group TORONTO, ON — Choosing to scale up green energy to replace the retiring Pickering nuclear station is more affordable for Ontarians than buying expensive replacement reactors, says a report released today by Renewable is Doable, an alliance of organizations including the Pembina Institute, the Canadian Environmental Law Association and Greenpeace. Last summer, Ontario suspended its purchase of two new replacement reactors when their cost reportedly topped $26 billion — $20 billion more than expected in 2007. more Read the report: Ontario’s Green Energy Plan 2.0: Choosing 21st Century Energy Options
Oil sands toxins growing rapidly August 9, 2010
Nathan VanderKlippe, The Globe and Mail Canada’s oil sands mining operations produce vast and fast-growing quantities of deadly
substances, including mercury, heavy metals and arsenic, new data
released by Environment Canada shows. more
In Crackdown on Energy Use, China to Shut 2,000 Factories August 9, 2010
Keith Bradshear HONG KONG — Earlier this summer, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China promised to use an “iron hand” to improve his country’s energy efficiency, and a growing number of businesses are now discovering that it feels like a fist.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology quietly published a list late Sunday of 2,087 steel mills, cement works and other energy-intensive factories required to close by Sept. 30. more
2010 Quebec Climate Action Camp
Climate Action Camp
Dunham Quebec, August 7-23 – Convergence Days 18-22
We must act swiftly to tackle the root causes of climate change and create the systemic change needed to avert climate catastrophe. So that’s what we’re doing. Taking action. Building a movement. Collectively, we can become a force to be reckoned with. Come to Dunham this August and be a part of it. more
Rethinking Alberta August 9, 2010
Jane Taber, The Globe and Mail A provocative ad “Rethink Alberta”
documenting the environmental impact of the oil sands on the province
is hurting the province’s image as a pristine vacation venue where
cowboys roam around on horses and mountain creeks bubble with clean,
cold water, according to a new online poll. more
Gaps on census, emissions August 7, 2010
Bruce Owen, Winnipeg Free Press Canada's premiers talked about a grab bag of issues, such as sharing drug costs, preserving the clean water supply and climate change, before wrapping up their two-day meeting in Winnipeg on Friday.
On most matters, the provincial and territorial leaders -- they call themselves the Council of the Federation -- ended up on the same page, but not on such issues as cutting greenhouse gases and Ottawa's move to eliminate the mandatory long-form census. more
Premiers differ on climate change August 7, 2010
Jason Fekete, Postmedia News Canada's 13 provincial and territorial premiers collectively said yesterday more must be done to combat climate change across the country, but the road maps for getting there continue to take drastically different routes. more
Fires
and high temperatures have Russians talking about global warming August 6, 2010
John Ryden,
Examiner.com Russia is experiencing very high, abnormal
temperatures this summer.
Temperatures in Moscow have been getting up to 100 degrees F instead of
the more usual 75 degrees F. more
Gwynne
Dyer: Russian response to wildfires gives an early glimpse of climate
change impact August 6,
2010
Gwynne Dyer, Straight.com It cannot be proved that the
wildfires now devastating western Russia
are evidence of global warming. Once-in-a-century extreme weather
events happen, on average, once a century. more
Massive
chunk of ice breaks off Greenland glacier August 6, 2010
Brian Jackson, Washington Post NASA's MODIS satellite sensor, which
has a history of providing breathtaking shots of
our planet, was at it again yesterday. A large -- approximately
97-square-mile -- chunk of ice broke away from the Petermann
Glacier
in northern Greenland. more
Climate Action Network Canada responds to Council of the Federation outcome August 6, 2010 Canadian provincial and territorial Premiers have just
concluded their annual meeting of the Council of the Federation. In response to
the outcome member organizations have reacted as follows. more
Greenhouse gas issue divides premiers into two camps at summit August 6, 2010
JASON FEKETE, Calgary Herald After finding some common ground this week on health care and the
economy, Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial premiers are likely to
butt heads today on how best to curb climate change. more
Tories should focus on oilsands action, not image: Sierra Club August 4, 2010
Renata D’Aliesio, Calgary Herald Here's the Sierra Club's response to the Alberta government's $268,000 pro-oilsands marketing campaign. more
Pembina reacts to Stelmach oil sands PR at Council of the Federation August 5, 2010
Marlo Raynolds, Pembina Institute "In Canada we don't have to be dirty to be rich. Provincial economies that can
achieve economic growth through clean energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions
will be the most competitive going forward." more
Provinces doing more to fight climate change: report August 5, 2010
Althia Raj, Toronto Sun Canada’s provincial leaders are shaming the federal government when it
comes to action on climate change, a group of environmentalists said
Thursday. more
Alberta pushes oilsands PR at premiers' conference August 5, 2010
Jason Fekete, Calgary Herald WINNIPEG — Alberta's premier attempted to shift the agenda of the annual premiers' meeting in his province's favour Thursday with a public-relations offensive on Alberta's energy production and environmental credentials.
His campaign came the same day environmental groups assailed Alberta and Saskatchewan as the environmental "laggards" in Canada — along with the federal government — for failing to adopt more aggressive climate-change initiatives. more
Blog: Questions for premiers at the Council of the Federation August 5, 2010
Hannah McKinnon, Rabble This week provincial and territorial premiers will meet in Winnipeg for the annual Council of the Federation meetings. With the federal government refusing to take any meaningful action on climate change, provinces and territories have the opportunity to pick up the slack and lead.
Here we try to clear up a few questions that premiers might be asking themselves regarding climate change action going into these meetings. more
Interest groups jockeying for leaders' attention August 5, 2010
Bruce Owen, Winnipeg Free Press
LABOUR and environmental groups will jockey to get the attention of Canada's provincial and territorial leaders today as the leaders gather in Winnipeg to discuss issues ranging from the ongoing economic recovery to protection of the nation's water resources.
Climate Action Network Canada wants the provinces to take a bigger leadership role to reduce emissions and promote wider use of clean energy, including the creation of "a provincial-territorial climate action secretariat" to foster inter-provincial collaboration on climate change. more
Oil sands emissions to nearly triple by 2020, Pembina warns August 4, 2010
Geoff Dembicki, The Hook Greenhouse gas emissions from Alberta’s oil sands are out of control, a new Pembina Institute study concludes. more
Greenpeace rappels off the Calgary Tower to remind government to separate oil and state August 3, 2010
Greenpeace Canada The activists dramatically unfurled the 8 x 15 metre banner at 10 a.m.
today from the top of the tower. At the time of this release, the
activists were still in place and police were on scene. The banner is
on the North side of the Calgary Tower and is visible across downtown
Calgary. Two activists — one Albertan and one European — are still
dangling from the banner, nearly 160 metres from the ground. more
Soot
is second leading cause of climate change: study August 1, 2010
Randy Boswell, Postmedia News A new U.S.
study probing the role of soot emissions in driving global
climate change highlights the severe impact that black carbon in the
air and dirty snow on the Earth’s surface have in melting Canada’s
Arctic sea ice. more
Earlier Articles
|
