It’s taken two million years but we’ve done it! Finally, we’ve reached CO2 levels exceeding 400 parts per million everywhere on the planet, even the Arctic. The milestone was announced by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). They said it was the first month that the entire globe
Continue readingTag: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Accidental Deliberations: On radioactive proposals
Never mind Brad Wall’s hand-picked group of nuclear industry shills using public money to further their own profits found that nuclear power is not price-competitive even among an artificially limited set of options absent a substantial carbon price – and that Wall himself refuses to set one. And never mind
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on Brad Wall’s appalling admission that the Saskatchewan Party’s plan for a low-carbon economy is to move into Ontario’s basement rather than pursuing sustainable development in Saskatchewan. For further reading…– Wall’s comments and other provincial positions in the lead up to this week’s premiers’ meeting can be found here.
Continue readingOur wise men have spoken—will the politicians listen?
Last week a report produced by 60 Canadian scholars stated that we can create a clean, sustainable future for our country with only a minimal effect on the economy. The scholars, representing every province as well as climate change expertise in areas from engineering to sociology, offered a consensus on
Continue readingCluster bombs and climate change—the good news
The media infamously saturate us with bad news. If it bleeds, it leads … and all that. Nonetheless, good news does surface from time to time. This week saw two good news stories that particularly caught my attention. The first was that Canada ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Closer Look at Oil and Climate Change.
Stephen Harper will not be pleased. The Carnegie Endowment is fingering his cherished Tar Sands. Not all oil is created equal. Sweet crude, of the Saudi sort, comes out of the ground almost ready to use. It’s pumped out of the ground easily, free of most contaminants (sulphur, water, sand,
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: It’s taboo to talk climate change at NEB’s Energy East hearings
By excluding climate change from the forthcoming review of the proposed Energy East project, the NEB is prioritizing Big oil’s anti-environment interests. The post It’s taboo to talk climate change at NEB’s Energy East hearings appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: How to destroy the climate in three easy steps
1. Abandon all previous targets and commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.2. Set a new target which one intends to ignore.3. Make clear to the world that developing policies to actually meet the new target is somebody else’s problem, no matter how obvious it is that the result will be
Continue readingreeves report: Melting Glaciers to Release Billions of Kilograms of CO₂ by 2050
A new study finds sea-level rise isn’t the only thing to fear about melting glaciers. Antarctic Ice Shelf Loss Comes From Underneath by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center \ CC BY 2.0 via Flickr WE KNOW SEA levels are rising as climate change causes glaciers to melt. But it turns out
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: I see what you did there
Let’s face it: a broken Red Book promise, an ignored Kyoto Protocol commitment and zero policy action later, nobody would have had reason to believe any Lib policy promises on greenhouse gas emissions anyway. So why wouldn’t Justin Trudeau try to spin continued neglect at the federal level as a
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Leehi Yona: Canadians’ best interests “certainly not represented” at COP20
Canada’s best interests weren’t represented at the recent COP20 climate conference in Peru, argues Leehi Yona, a Canadian youth delegate recently named one of Canada’s top environmentalist under 25. The post Leehi Yona: Canadians’ best interests “certainly not represented” at COP20 appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Harper Breaks Promise To Regulate Oil And Gas Emissions
In Parliament today, PM Stephen Harper said “it would be crazy economic policy” to regulate the Canadian oil and gas industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. The post Harper Breaks Promise To Regulate Oil And Gas Emissions appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – The OECD reports on the relationship between equality and growth, and concludes that rising inequality is as toxic for economic development as it is for our social fabric. And David Rider discusses how increasing inequality is manifesting itself in several Toronto neighbourhoods.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Excuses, excuses
Shorter Leona Aglukkaq: It’s absolutely essential that we align our greenhouse gas emissions policies with the U.S. if that means delaying regulations which could limit pollution from the tar sands. Also, it’s absolutely essential that we refuse to align our greenhouse gas emission policies with the U.S. if they’re committing
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: From Ground to Store: We Look at Carbon Neutral Wines
When you see a product that says carbon neutral, what does it mean? I recently enjoyed a bottle of Italy’s number one selling wine in Canada, Santa Margherita’s Pinot Grigio. Each bottle has a green label that says “Carbon neutral from ground to store. Measured and offset with Carbonzero”. It
Continue readingEnergy East—another reason why we need Quebec
Among the arguments that might be made to keep Quebec in Canada is simply that it’s our most progressive province. One can cite ample of evidence for this: it showed the strongest support for the Kyoto Accord and gay marriage, it has the most advanced child care program, it is
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Naomi Klein: Reject Keystone XL Pipeline, Radical Change Needed [VIDEO]
Naomi Klein calls on Barack Obama to reject TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, urges “radical change to prevent catastrophic warming.” The post Naomi Klein: Reject Keystone XL Pipeline, Radical Change Needed [VIDEO] appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – The Economist discusses how a tiny elite group is taking a startling share of the U.S.’ total wealth: The ratio of household wealth to national income has risen back toward the level of the 1920s, but the share in the hands of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Why the Obama-Xi Emissions Deal is Window Dressing.
The CO2 emissions deal reached this week by the presidents of the US and China is a positive step, no doubt about that. It’s also far too little, much too late, although it’s reflective of how inflexible our global society has become even in matters of our very survival. Even
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Dear Tony, You Can Kiss Our…
A group of Australians gathered on Bondi Beach to bury their heads in the sand in protest of their prime minister’s fossil fuel fetish. More than 400 protesters stuck their heads in the sand on Australia’s Bondi Beach on Thursday, mocking the government’s reluctance to put climate change on the
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