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 election. When Ontario moved to fixed election...
Continue reading the post titled Offshore wind moratoriumCarbon Farming
Australia has introduced carbon farming legislation. The Carbon Farming Initiative is a carbon offsets scheme being established by the Australian Government to provide new economic opportunities for farmers, forest growers and landholders and to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Continue reading the post titled Carbon FarmingClass action certified for highway noise
"Collective action.. creates a just balance between the people who suffer the consequences of a violation and the offender, who often has much greater resources..."
Continue reading the post titled Class action certified for highway noiseYes, TCE is a carcinogen
After 22 years of study, and intense political maneuvering, the US Environmental Protection Agency has formally classified TCE (trichloroethene, also called trichloroethylene) as a carcinogen, as well as a non-cancer hazard to human health. The assessment is now a formal part of the the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database, a human health assessment program that...
Continue reading the post titled Yes, TCE is a carcinogenLead from airplanes still widespread
In 2003, Friends of the Earth petitioned the US EPAto get lead out of aviation gasoline. While there had been much discussion about taking lead out of racing vehicle gasoline, aviation gasoline actually releases much more lead into the environment than racing.
Continue reading the post titled Lead from airplanes still widespreadCreative sentencing- brilliant or cheap?
The same debate recurs every few years: Are “creative” alternatives to conventional fines a brilliant innovation? Or just another way for corporate polluters to get off cheaply?
Continue reading the post titled Creative sentencing- brilliant or cheap?Can municipal councillors be personally liable for drinking water?
Municipal councillors are generally protected from personal liability, for any decisions they make in good faith in the course of their duties. This protection is incorporated into Municipal Acts of each province. For example, the Municipal Government Act of Alberta states:
Continue reading the post titled Can municipal councillors be personally liable for drinking water?Surging climate change: Record low ice and crop failure, who cares?
What will it take for climate change to become an election issue? Ok, lots of people don’t understand why the rapid disappearance of Arctic ice to its record low (and still melting) matters to them. (For a quick summary, try Why Arctic Ice Matters and the Arctic Ice Death Spiral. According to the Economist, there...
Continue reading the post titled Surging climate change: Record low ice and crop failure, who cares?Did Conservatives mislead country on environmental assessment "delays"?
Canada’s environmental review process for projects such as oil and gas pipelines did not have backlogs or other unreasonable delays that would justify the timelines imposed by the federal government last year, according to a study in the respected Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
Continue reading the post titled Did Conservatives mislead country on environmental assessment "delays"?Few complaints once wind farms start operating
Two recent studies confirm that complaints about wind turbines are much more frequent in areas where the turbines have not been built, than they are near operating wind farms. Wind farms are particularly accepted in Alberta, which has had large wind farms for 20 years. The Pembina Institute blog comments: “No other province in Canada has a...
Continue reading the post titled Few complaints once wind farms start operatingReceive Blog Posts
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