Read this Jan. 9 Vancouver Sun story on the unusually short public comment period set by the National Energy Board for the proposed Kinder Morgan oil pipeline expansion to Vancouver – a decision their spokesperson says is due to political pressure from the Harper Government. OTTAWA — A federal regulator is “pulling a fast
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The Common Sense Canadian: Harper fires back at Neil Young’s anti-Tar Sands tour
Legendary rocker Neil Young should mind his own carbon footprint, says Stephen Harper Read this Jan. 12 story from Sun News on Stephen Harper’s response to an anti-Tar Sands tour being led by Canadian-born rock legend Neil Young. OTTAWA – Responding to Neil Young’s anti-oilsands tour, the Prime Minister’s Office
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fukushima water decontamination system breaks down
Tanks containing radioactive water at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant (Issei Kato / Reuters) Read this Jan. 9 story from RT.com, reporting on the failure of the water decontamination system at Japan’s badly-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company)
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Multiple spy agency watchdogs have ties to oil industry
Security Intelligence Review Committee head and ex-Conservative MP Chuck Strahl (Adrian Wyld/CP) Read this Jan. 10 story from CBC.ca on further revelations of Canadian spy agency watchdogs with lobbying ties to the oil and gas industry. While the head of the watchdog committee overseeing Canada’s intelligence agency is under attack
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Disney promotes fracking to elementary schoolers
Read this Jan 8 story from Aljazeera America on Radio Disney’s controverisal participation in an educational tour of Ohio, promoting fracking to kids. An educational program funded by Ohio’s oil and gas industry and sponsored by Radio Disney has environmental activists — and some parents — up in arms over
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Wind power now Spain’s top source of electricity as GHG’s plummet
Read this inspiring story from The Guardian on Spain’s dramatic increase of renewable energy and consequent 23% decline in energy-related carbon emissions. Remarkable new figures from Spain’s grid operator have revealed that greenhouse gas emissions from the country’s power sector are likely to have fallen 23.1% last year, as power generation from
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Energy analyst: Oil-by-rail jeopardized by explosions
Exploding rail cars in last year’s Lac-Mégantic catastrophe were carrying highly flammable oil products Read this Jan. 6 column from Reuters energy analyst John Kemp on the risks posed to the emerging oil-by-rail business by the highly combustible products it’s transporting. The rising number of serious accidents involving oil tank
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Clark rushes Woodfibre LNG approval, risking backlash
Artist’s rendering of proposed Woodfibre LNG terminal in Howe Sound, BC Read this Jan. 6 Globe and Mail story by Mark Hume on BC Premier Christy Clark’s push to get a new, proposed LNG terminal in Howe Sound approved with reduced regulatory hurdles – a move that could backfire. Premier Christy Clark
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mechanical failure spurred CN oil train derailment in New Brunswick
Emergency responders stayed back from the NB train derailment due to safety concerns (wagmtv.com) Read this Jan. 8 story from CBC.ca on the latest derailment of a train carrying petroleum products, this time in New Brunswick. The CN Rail derailment that is behind a massive fire near Plaster Rock, N.B.,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: 60 Minutes charged with hit job on cleantech
Read this Jan 6 story from the Huffington Post on the backlash generated by a recent 60 Minutes exposé titled “Cleantech Crash”. A recent “60 Minutes” segment is drawing sharp criticism for its pessimistic take on the green technology sector, which questioned whether clean tech has become a “dirty word.”
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: In BC, fracking happens closer to schools, homes
This school playground in Farmington, BC, sits a few hundred meters from a sour gas well (Damien Gillis) Read this December 29 Vancouver Sun story from Stephen Hume on the revolving door between government and the shale gas industry that has left BC’s children and families more vulnerable to the risks
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Vancouver Council will apply as intervener for Kinder Morgan pipeline hearing
Read this Dec. 19 story from The Georgia Straight on Vancouver City Council’s vote to apply for intervener status in the upcoming National Energy Board hearings into Kinder Morgan’s recently filed application for a major oil pipeline expansion to Vancouver. VANCOUVER CITY COUNCIL has voted in favour of applying for intervenor status at National
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Vancouver Mayor, Council to oppose Kinder Morgan pipeline, tankers
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson (photo: facebook) Read this Dec. 4 story from The Province on the City of Vancouver’s opposition to the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion. Vancouver will oppose Kinder Morgan’s plan to twin its Trans Mountain pipeline to the Lower Mainland. Saying the city has “grave concerns” about the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Large US companies preparing to pay a carbon tax
Read this Dec. 5 story from The New York Times on a new report by the environmental data company CDP which shows that at least 29 large American companies are incorporating a price on carbon into their long-term financial plans. WASHINGTON — More than two dozen of the nation’s biggest
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Pundits, polls and pack journalism: BC’s wild year in politics
by Sid Tafler As 2013 winds down, veteran BC journalist Sid Tafler looks back at the province’s 2013 election and the surprising (to some) victory of the BC Liberal Party. On the night of the BC election, a supporter of Green Party candidate Andrew Weaver told a TV reporter he
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Surrey aims to get ambitious light rail plan on track with federal investment
Read this Nov. 28 story from 24 Hours on Surrey, BC’s ambitious plan to develop its own network of light rail lines, which it says will better service the community’s public transit needs than regional transportation authority Translink’s vision for an extension to the skytrain line and additional buses. Surrey is
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Teck smelter’s downstream US neighbours may sue over pollution, illness
1988 image of effluent from Teck’s lead and Zinc smelter in Trail, BC (photo: Joel Rogers) Read this Nov. 25 story from CBC.ca on a potential lawsuit involving downstream pollution from a lead-zinc smelter owned by Teck Resources in Trail, BC. Residents of a small town in northern Washington state
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Former Agriculture Minister Corky Evans: Time to speak up for ALR
The days of the family farm are numbered if we don’t act to protect BC’s ALR now, says ex-Minister Corky Evans by Corky Evans Imagine that you might, someday, want to farm for a living. Or imagine your kids might want to farm, or your grandkids. All over the world
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Enbridge plans major private power project on fish-bearing river
The Clore River (Neil Ever Osborne/ILCP) Read this Nov. 22 story from Larry Pynn in The Vancouver Sun on Enbridge’s plan to resurrect a private run-of-river project on the Clore River in northwest BC. The 120-megawatt project was abandoned by another company after it learned of the river’s significant fish values. A
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Developers winning battle for BC farmland: UNBC professor
Read this Nov. 15 story from Mark Hume at The Globe and Mail on the losing battle to protect BC farmland from development. The way farmland is managed in British Columbia and across Canada is being put under the microscope in a three-year study that will involve nine researchers from six different
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