Making News
Making News
Remarks to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development
By John Bennett, November 1, 2011
Mr. Chairman,
I would like to thank the Committee for providing Sierra Club Canada with an opportunity to put some of our views on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) on the table. I had hoped to present with our volunteer president (who is also an environmental lawyer) but she is in court today and sends her apologies.
I would like to address three issues in my remarks today. There is an unacceptable campaign to marginalize and silence the voices of the environment in Canada. Giving responsibility for environmental assessment of energy projects to the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was just wrong. And finally, I want to talk about the perceived bias in the system.
... Read more »
- Login to post comments
New coal regulations called weak
Environmental groups say more than 5,000 people have written to the federal government demanding tougher rules for coal-fired power plants.
Wednesday marked the end of a 60-day period for public comments on new regulations that will govern those power plants in the future.
The rules have been controversial because they won't kick in until July, 2015 and apply only to coal-fired power plants built after that date.
Environmental groups said at a press conference Thursday the proposed regulations are too "weak" and will do very little to move Canada towards its greenhouse gas emissions targets.... Read more »
- Login to post comments
Thousands of Canadians demand for Canada to go beyond coal
Media Release, October 27, 2011
OTTAWA - Over 5,000 letters demanding stricter greenhouse gas regulations for coal power in Canada were submitted during the public consultation period on federal coal regulations. Climate Action Network Canada believes that if incorporated into the proposed regulations, measures proposed in member submissions could insure that these regulations have a meaningful impact on Canada’s path towards a safer, more sustainable future.
Leading Canadian organizations are concerned that the proposed regulations, if not strengthened, will deliver only a 3 per cent improvement towards meeting Canada’s 2020 emissions target, and according to Environment Canada will have a “negligible impact” on non-polluting electricity generation.
... Read more »
- Login to post comments
Canadian Environmental Network blind-sided by elimination of core funding
The Canadian Environmental Network is reeling from the elimination of its core funding by Environment Canada, and last week the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency told the Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development that it’s bracing for a 43 per cent cut to its budget for 2012-2013. Green Party leader Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C.) says the government is waging war on the environment.
The Canadian Environmental Network, which has facilitated communication between the federal government and community-based environmental groups for over three decades, was notified that it would lose its core federal funding of $547,000 next year.
... Read more »
- Login to post comments
Environmental network forced to close doors afer 34 years
A 34-year-old national environmental network that has served as a link between people and the federal government shut its doors Friday afternoon after Environment Canada cut its funding.
The Canadian Environmental Network was told Thursday that its funding from the federal government won't be renewed.
"It was a real kick in the pants," said Dan Casselman, the group's senior national caucus co-ordinator.
"If they'd given us some warning we might have had time to find money somewhere else."
The network acted as a link between 640 small environmental groups across the country and the federal government. In the past, if Ottawa needed advice on policies or new laws it would ask the network for input. The organization would then help the various smaller groups discuss issues and take part in formal consultations across the country.
... Read more »
- Login to post comments
Ottawa pulls funding for Canadian Environmental Network
An environmental umbrella group wants Ottawa to reverse a decision to pull its funding, though the government says the move is necessary during a time of fiscal restraint.
The Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) received notice Thursday that it would not receive $547,000 in core funding that the government had previously said it intended to provide.
Olivier Kolmel, the chairman of the organization's board of directors, said Ottawa did not give any warning that it would cut off its funding next year.
"If we would have had warning and we had known several months ahead of time, we could plan for some kind of transitional model, to move on to a different financial model," Kolmel told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Friday morning.
The RCEN has existed for more than three decades and includes more than 600 member organizations from across Canada.... Read more »
- Login to post comments
Wind turbines and health
When I became the acting medical officer of health for Chatham-Kent, little did I know that I would be swept headlong into controversy about harnessing the wind right here in our backyard.
Three years ago, I was asked to help make sense of the conflicting information the local council was receiving about the effects of wind turbines on human health.
I researched the topic extensively and found no scientifically credible evidence that wind turbines eroded human health. I was then asked to produce a more extensive report that was issued by the Chatham-Kent Health Unit.
... Read more »
Link to source site:
http://www.windsorstar.com/health/Turbines+health/5522490/story.html - Login to post comments
Strong regulations needed to reduce greenhouse gases: report
Media Release, October 4, 2011
OTTAWA – The report released by the Environment Commissioner today clearly demonstrates two things: Strong regulations are needed to reduce greenhouse gases; and Canada is not keeping track of its own multi-billion dollar programs and therefore doesn’t know whether or not they are actually reducing greenhouse gases.
The report doesn’t come as a surprise to Sierra Club Canada. “The government obviously isn’t serious about reducing greenhouse gases. If it was, it wouldn’t have cancelled regulations on Canada’s biggest polluters,” said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada.... Read more »
Gaping hole opened in Arctic ozone layer
A huge Arctic ozone hole opened up over the Northern Hemisphere for the first time this year, an international research team reported Sunday.
The hole covered 2 million square kilometres - about twice the size of Ontario - and allowed high levels of harmful ultraviolet radiation to hit large swaths of northern Canada, Europe and Russia this spring, the 29 scientists say.
The discovery of the "unprecedented" hole comes as the Canadian government is moving to reduce staff in what Environment Minister Peter Kent calls the "streamlining" of its ozone monitoring network.
Environment Canada scientist David Tarasick, whose team played a key role in the report published Sunday in the journal Nature, is not allowed to discuss the discovery with the media.... Read more »
Link to source site:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Gaping+hole+opened+Arctic+ozone+layer/... - Login to post comments
Alberta energy minister likens pipeline companies to baby seals
CALGARY - Alberta's energy minister says pipeline companies are being victimized by an increasingly hostile environmental movement.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Ron Liepert noted it wasn't long ago that the pipeline sector went largely unnoticed, but that has changed with TransCanada's (TSX:TRP) plans for the Keystone XL pipeline to ship oilsands product south through the United States.
"I think back to the good old days this pipeline business used to be sort of a sleepy, boring, unnoticed part of the industry. That's not the case anymore," Liepert said.
"I think pipelines have sort of become the baby seals of the environmental groups these days."
... Read more »
Link to source site:
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/48307--alberta-energy-minister-likens-pi... - Login to post comments
Support Sierra Club Canada Foundation
and Receive a Charitable Tax Receipt!
