Banning shark fin soup
The high status and traditional importance of shark fin soup in Chinese and related cultures is causing world wide devastation of these keystone predators. After 400 million years of playing a key role in the world’s oceans, sharks could now be wiped out in a generation. Shark finning …
View the post titled Banning shark fin soupTax incentives for brownfields
Ontario municipalities have demonstrated their commitment to brownfield redevelopment by investing in a wide variety of incentive programs for contaminated sites that include Community Improvement Plans (CIPs). Now, there is a consolidated source for locating active municipal brownfields fin…
View the post titled Tax incentives for brownfieldsMacQueen/ Sydney tar ponds class action update
MacQueen v Nova Scotia, the Sydney Tar Ponds class action, is still mired in wrangling over the proper definition of the class. Last fall, the plaintiffs were hopeful that certification was just around the corner, and proposed a revised, narrower class definition for the court’s approv…
View the post titled MacQueen/ Sydney tar ponds class action updateEnvironmental moot court
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the weekend Environment Moot Court at Osgoode Hall. I was very impressed by the calibre of the students, and by the wide support that both judges and the environmental bar gave to make the event a success.
View the post titled Environmental moot courtERT to consider environmental penalties?
The Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal has not yet decided any appeals of environmental penalty ordersUnder the Environmental Protection Act, the Ontario Water Resources Act, or any other Ontario environmental statute. Two previous environmental penalties were appealed to the Tribunal, bu…
View the post titled ERT to consider environmental penalties?Agent Orange in Ontario
The Toronto Star has released a fascinating story about Agent Orange and other herbicides, sprayed on Ontario workers and forests half a century ago. Will it lead to another class action, like the ones revolving around Gagetown, NB? I remember standing in the mist as airplanes roared over, s…
View the post titled Agent Orange in OntarioWind energy appeal moving fast
The first wind energy appeal to the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal is moving quickly. The Kent Breeze approval was issued November 12, 2010. The Erickson appeal was filed on November 29. A preliminary hearing was held January 11. The hearing of the appeal began February 1 and will c…
View the post titled Wind energy appeal moving fastChevron, Ecuador, and court shopping
30,000 people, including indigenous tribes, suing Chevron (for toxic waste discharges by its predecessor, Texaco) obtained an $8.6 billion judgment this week from the Provincial Court of Justice of Sucumbios in Lago Agrio, Ecuador. The penalty is reportedly to be doubled if Chevron does not…
View the post titled Chevron, Ecuador, and court shoppingBP: Can we manage the risks we create?
Morally, legally, financially, environmentally: can we really create huge unprecedented risks in pursuit of our own comfort, and manage them successfully? I am coming to agree with Thomas Homer-Dixon that our destructive capacity has far outstripped our ability to manage or even understand i…
View the post titled BP: Can we manage the risks we create?Offshore wind moratorium
So, Ontario is ducking the offshore wind issue until after the election. I suppose it should not be a surprise, given the extraordinary public and media attention that the rapid growth in wind energy has elicited, and the growing fixation of the entire political system on the forthcoming ele…
View the post titled Offshore wind moratoriumReceive Blog Posts
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