Anti-fracking bylaws: US Lawyer wins green Nobel prize
Helen Slottje, a lawyer in Ithaca, New York, was recently awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work “helping towns across New York defend themselves from oil and gas companies by passing local bans on fracking” (the US equivalent of anti-fracking bylaws). Her legal res…
View the post titled Anti-fracking bylaws: US Lawyer wins green Nobel prizeClean Air court win for US Environmental Protection Agency
The US Environmental Protection Agency has won an important court victory that may help clean the air in Ontario. About half of the air pollution in southern Ontario blows in from the US, mostly from coal-fired power generation stations. The EPA has been trying, for many years, to force thos…
View the post titled Clean Air court win for US Environmental Protection AgencyWind turbines don’t hurt property values
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) has released a new report, again concluding that wind turbines do not adversely affect the value of nearby properties. “MPAC commissioned this study of the effects of industrial wind turbines (IWT) on the current value of property in…
View the post titled Wind turbines don’t hurt property valuesWaste Diversion Ontario and Stewardship Ontario to arbitrate
Waste diversion in Ontario is spawning an unusual amount of litigation this year. Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO), the delegated administrative authority which oversees several waste diversion programs under the Waste Diversion Act, is sending its breach of contract dispute with Stewardship On…
View the post titled Waste Diversion Ontario and Stewardship Ontario to arbitrateEnvironment Ministry to loosen law for waste-based alternative fuels that displace coal
Kudos to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for finally coming to grips, at least a little, with the adverse environmental and environmental effects of labeling too many productive activities as “waste disposal”. The ministry’s proposed regulatory changes will remove t…
View the post titled Environment Ministry to loosen law for waste-based alternative fuels that displace coalMore Ontario Statements of Environmental Values proposed
The Ontario Ministries of Rural Affairs and of Agriculture and Food have each proposed a draft Statement of Environmental Values under the Environmental Bill of Rights. The Ontario Environmental Commissioner has, for many years, called for all ministries who make decisions with significant e…
View the post titled More Ontario Statements of Environmental Values proposedSupreme Court of Canada gives Chevron permission to appeal Ecuador pollution decision
The Supreme Court of Canada has granted Chevron’s application for leave to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal decision allowing Ecuadorian plaintiffs to sue here to try to collect their $18 billion Ecuador pollution judgment. According to a US court, that award was based on fraud. Our …
View the post titled Supreme Court of Canada gives Chevron permission to appeal Ecuador pollution decisionAnother fine for not reporting flyrock as environmental discharge
Last year, Castonguay Blasting lost its appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada against a conviction for failing to report flyrock as an environmental “discharge” under the Environmental Protection Act. Now they have been fined $75,000 for essentially the same offence on another oc…
View the post titled Another fine for not reporting flyrock as environmental dischargeGood news: clarity to come on single use battery “recycling” in Ontario
What should count as battery “recycling”? Is it good enough to melt single use batteries into nickel mill slag, which is put in roadbeds as “aggregate”? Or should we insist on up-cycling end of life batteries, i.e. carefully separating and reusing each of the hazardous components…
View the post titled Good news: clarity to come on single use battery “recycling” in OntarioFirst “climate refugee” case going to appeal in New Zealand
On 1st May, 2014, the New Zealand Court of Appeal will hear Ioane Teitiota’s claim to become the world’s first climate refugee. Mr. Teitota is from a remote atoll in the Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest-lying nations on Earth. He is trying to convince New Zealand jud…
View the post titled First “climate refugee” case going to appeal in New ZealandReceive Blog Posts
By subscribing to our blog, you will receive an email when a new post is added. You can unsubscribe at any time by sending an email to us at [email protected] with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line.