A decade ago, Ontario fired 25 percent of its grid from coal. Now Canada’s most populous province will phase out its entire coal fleet by the end of the year to become the first jurisdiction in North America to do so. RELATED: Ontario’s Next Premier: Andrea Horwath Ontario New Democrats
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The Disaffected Lib: A World Mad for Coal
There’s a big bright future ahead for coal and we’ll pay dearly for it. The International Energy Agency warns that, within five years, coal will rival oil as the fossil fuel energy source of choice. Coal consumption is increasing all over the world – even in countries and regions with
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: SaskPower: At Least 13 Years Out of Touch
I’m sorry Canada, and the world. I’ve tried to convince my province’s public utility that there are huge benefits from dialing down the reliance on coal burned electricity, but they won’t listen. They haven’t even removed or updated a shockingly out-dated “Solar” page on their website that lists information that
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Another 1,000+ Coal Plants in the Works
Actually, the number may be closer to 1,200 new coal-fueled electricity plants about three-quarters of them planned for China and India.Coal plants are the most polluting of all power stations and the World Resources Institute (WRI) identified 1,200 c…
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Newsflash: Canadian PM’s American Idol supports Stephane Dion-esque carbon tax shift
Note: for non-Canadian readers (or, indeed for Canadian readers who don’t follow politics) Stephane Dion was the milquetoast who led the Liberal Party of Canada to its then-worst-ever federal election result in 2008. He ran on a campaign of a carbon tax shift (“The Green Shift“), for which the Conservative Party mocked and savaged him. We’ll […]
Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Passion
Why is there such passionate debate over climate change? It’s not like many global problems tend to inflame heated debate all too often at a local level, but climate change is different because it’s such an old and unresolved serious problem. When acid rain was destroying forests, swifter action was
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Sandy Wind Blows
The largest hurricane recorded is underway, and it’s hitting the US and Canada. Is it because of climate change? The short answer is, yes. If you’re asking that question because you’re wondering if climate change is real, the answer is, yes it is real and we have to make a
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Clean Coal?
Romney said during the first debate there is an “Economy Tax”, and the US “can continue to burn clean coal”. Neither exists. The former was his attempt to coin a phrase, and the latter is a (very dangerous) lie. “Clean coal” is a phrase paid for by the dirty coal
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: McGuinty’s Legacy
The Bruce Power revitalization program is an essential element to Ontario’s plan to phase out coal generation in 2014. Coal output over the past decade has dropped by nearly 90 per cent annually, while Bruce Power has increased its output by 55 per cent. This increased clean generation from the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Conquering Coal – A Tale of One City’s Fight
shutterstock_91442597.jpg This is guest post by Megan Pitz. As another sweltering summer day over 100 degrees came to a close in the Washington, D.C. region, citizens of nearby Alexandria, Virginia witnessed the closure of the Potomac River Generating Station (PRGS) coal-fired power plant also known as the 'Mirant Plant.' The closure
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Condemn An Industry
I often condemn the tar sands oil industry as a communist owned, unethical, dirty mess that’s destroyed Canada’s reputation just for a quick (geological-time) buck. There are engineers writing for Fox News that are condemning the green economy, and green jobs, because they are uncreative hacks responsible for depressing our
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Drought, Fracking, Coal and Nukes Wreak Havoc on Fresh Water Supplies
nukeplant.jpg This is a guest post by EcoWatch, republished with permission. For the last few months EcoWatch has been covering what's become the worst drought in the U.S. in more than half a century. More than 3,200 daily high temperature records were set or tied in June, and July is in
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: What To Expect When You’re Electing: Mitt Romney’s Energy Advisors
Romney and Bush.jpg In the last few months, the press has been drawing a lot of parallels between presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and former Republican President George W. Bush. And they have plenty of reasons for doing so. Romney has already tapped many of the same Bush economic
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Real Train Wreck: ALEC and "Other ALECs" Attack EPA Regulations
shutterstock_2531395.jpg When business-friendly bills and resolutions spread like wildfire in statehouses nationwide calling for something as far-fetched as a halt to EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, ALEC is always a safe bet for a good place to look for their origin. In the midst of hosting its 39th Annual Meeting this week in
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Three Simple Numbers Behind Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math
They are the “numbers that add up to global catastrophe – and that make clear who the real enemy is,” according to Rolling Stone magazine. They bring a frightening reality at a time when, here in Canada, the Conservative Government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is doing everything to suppress
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: House Republicans Attempt To Block Black Lung Protection Funding
black-lung.gif In what could possibly be a new low for one of the most anti-environment, pro-dirty energy industry Congresses in history, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are attempting to gut funding for measures that would reduce the occurrence of black lung in mine workers. The funding cut was
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: TransCanada’s Latest Extreme Energy Export Pipelines in the U.S. and Canada
shutterstock_48011347.jpg TransCanada was once in the limelight and targeted for its Keystone XL pipeline project. Now, with few eyes watching, it is pushing along two key pipeline projects that would bring two respective forms of what energy geopolitics scholar Michael Klare calls "extreme energy" to lucrative export markets. Pipeline one: the southern
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Massey WV Coal Battle Take Two: Erie, CO Citizens Fight Fracking
shutterstock_15465343 (1).jpg Erie, CO meet Naoma, WV. Though seemingly different battles over different ecologically hazardous extractive processes — hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for unconventional gas versus mountaintop removal for coal — the two battles are one in the same and direct parallels of one another. On June 2, a coalition of activist organizations
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: What Chesapeake Energy’s Financial Scandals Mean For The Rest of Us
Chesapeake-McClendon.png Given radioactive wastewater, earthquakes, and flammable tap water, one might think that drilling and fracking could not possibly have any more dirty secrets. But here’s the biggest secret of all: it’s expensive. With natural gas at historic low prices – the Wall Street Journal ran a column recently suggesting
Continue reading350 or bust: Economist Arrested At Coal Protest: This Has To Stop, Our Window To Act On Climate Change Closing
12 protestors were arrested during a day-long protest in White Rock, B.C. that blocked coal trains from reaching port. Among the protestors was leading environmental economist and Simon Fraser University Professor Mark Jaccard, who issued this statement earlier this week: This Saturday, May 5, at dawn I’m joining other British
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