Related Posts

  • Proposed Darlington overhaul fails to plan for Chernobyl-scale disaster, critics charge

    Nuclear planners are not considering the possibility of a Fukushima-scale accident at Ontario’s Darlington nuclear station, critics told a regulatory hearing Monday.

    The comments came as the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission opened hearings about the mid-life overhaul of the Darlington station, which provides 20 per cent of the province’s power.

    “We would like to see them plan for an accident as severe as happened at Fukushima or Chernobyl,” said Theresa McCleneghan of the Canadian Environmental Law Association. “We’re not satisfied there’s been any serious attention paid to the capability to respond to such an accident.”

    McCleneghan noted that if Ontario Power Generation gets approval for the overhaul, the plant will continue operating until 2055. OPG shouldn’t be allowed to proceed until more extensive emergency measures are in place, she said.

  • Whose Roads? Evaluating Bicyclists’ and Pedestrians’ Right to Use Public Roadways

    From the Victoria Transport Policy Institute

  • Arctic sea ice levels hit record low

    The amount of sea ice in the Arctic is at an all-time low, suggesting that climate change is leading to a dramatic shift in the north, according to a new report.

    In an analysis released this week, the U.S.-based National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said that Arctic sea ice cover has melted to a record low, breaking the previous record set in 2007.

    Satellite data from August 26 showed that sea ice extent fell to 4.10 million square kilometers, the lowest amount ever seen since observations of the polar cap began three decades ago.

    On September 18, 2007, the date of the previous record low, sea ice extent was measured at 4.17 million square kilometres.

  • James Schwartz's Open Letter to a Bicycle Helmet

    I love my bike and can't stand my helmet. I've made new year's resolutions to start wearing a helmet that always fail by February. Luckily, it's a personal choice, not the law where I live so I can "forget" and not pay for it. TO blogger James Schwartz (the Urban Country) has compiled info about bike safety & the desire to make biking second-nature in his clever article "Dear Bicycle Helmet"

    Dear Bicycle Helmet:

     

  • It’s time for regional transit

    Andrew Robinson’s article “How to get around,” Aug. 25, concerning regional public transit, outlined the absence of leadership and vision present among provincial and municipal leaders towards the subject.

    Unfortunately, the provincial government, in its energy policy document, exhibited its shortsightedness when it dismissed regional public transit as a viable option in its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To date they have tended to view it as a transportation option meriting little importance on their agenda.

  • Greenbelt Harvest Picnic - Featuring Feist and others!

  • Stephen Harper’s Yukon ATV ride sparks controversy

    Maybe we can call the latest political 'controversy' involving Stephen Harper ATV-gate.

    During their week-long visit to the north, Harper and his wife Laureen inadvertently rode into the middle of an ongoing debate about the use of all-terrain vehicles in the Yukon's delicate ecosystems.

    According to iPolitics, the Harpers' off-road adventure through sand dunes near Whitehorse on Monday has touched a nerve with local environmental activists, who have spent years trying to keep all-terrain vehicles from tearing up the territory's "pristine wilderness."

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  • US considering new bill against import of exotic spp.

    U.S. REP.

  • Post-Fukushima, Japan's irradiated fish worry B.C. experts

    Little-known statistics compiled by Japan’s Fisheries Agency have documented persistently high post-Fukushima radiation levels in fish.

     

  • Canadian government opposes efforts at UN conference to strengthen language on mercury pollution

    Ottawa - The Canadian government was among a group of developed countries at a UN conference last week opposing language intended to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution. At the United Nations treaty negotiation session (INC4) held in Punta Del Este, Uruguay last week, Canada and its partners refused to include stronger language, even though it was supported by two-thirds of delegates engaged in the international negotiations.

    "Developed countries should not stand in the way of the rest of the world on the issue of including health in international environmental agreements," said Eric Uram of the Sierra Club. "Everything in nature is connected, and people and the environment cannot operate on separate planes. Protecting the health of the planet is an international responsibility that needs to be supported by all countries."

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