Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – There wasn’t much doubt from the recent storm of astroturfed Twitter messages that NDP candidate Catherine Fife stood to do well in tomorrow’s Kitchener-Waterloo provincial byelection. But I’m not sure anybody anticipated she’d have a sixteen-point lead over all comers – and the
Continue readingTag: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
DeSmogBlog: 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 readingDeSmogBlog: Does Red Leaf’s "EcoShale" Technology Greenwash Oil Shale Extraction?
Red Leaf EcoShale.png At the Clinton Global Initiative in 2008, former Vice President Al Gore called the possibility of fossil fuel corporations extracting oil shale "utter insanity." Insanity, though, doesn't serve as a hinderance for deeply entrenched and powerful fossil fuel interests. Oil shale, also known as kerogen, should not be confused with
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – May 8, 2012
Tuesday, May 8 saw another day of debate on the Cons’ omnibus budget legislation – and another day of general non-responsiveness from the Cons as to its actual effects. But that wasn’t for lack of important contributions from the opposition benches. The Big Issue Marie-Claude Morin raised issues about the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne tears into the Cons for being interested solely in developing a junk labour market where both work safety and income security are sorely lacking. And Chris Selley offers his own rebuttal to the “no such thing as a bad job” mentality:
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Dead and buried
Others have already pointed out last week’s news that oil-sands operators are pulling out of a major carbon capture and storage project. But it’s worth taking a closer look at their explanation, and how it compares to the Cons’ claim to have the slightest interest in dealing with climate change.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Lawrence Martin comments on the growing resonance of inequality as an issue for Canadian voters. But the most telling sign may be less the Ontario NDP’s steps to highlight the need for more progressive taxation (as Martin recognizes), but the McGuinty Libs’
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: TD Greening from Inside Out
While some ‘green’ businesses do little more than changing light bulbs and focus on greening their reputations, TD Bank take a long term view and green themselves slowly and steadily from the inside out. In this exclusive interview, TD Chief Environmental Officer Karen Clarke-Whistler explains how this long term approach
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: Three CEOs in One Room: Walmart, Coca-Cola, Unilever
Some of the biggest CEOs in Canada come together for the Walmart Green Student Challenge. I took this rare opportunity to ask them: Where is sustainability going for Canadian industries? Walmart, Coca-Cola, and Unilever already share best practices for their common goals in sustainability. Now they want to see more
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to close out your weekend. – Erica Alini points out that the effect of the Cons’ lobbying on behalf of the tar sands has been solely to make sure that the absolute worst polluters force the public to pay the cost of their activities, as anybody actually operating
Continue readingAlberta and Saskatchewan vie for pollution title
Alberta is generally considered to be Canada’s pollution champion. And it deserves the honour. With 11 per cent of the country’s population it contributes 34 per cent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Nonetheless, Saskatchewan can also make the claim. It only produces 7 per cent of the country’s emissions,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Susan Delacourt wonders whether the Cons plan to launch an attack on the environmental movement to match the schism which helped the Libs and the Bloc to divide up the Quebec political pie over sovereignty. But it’s worth keeping in mind that even
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – The Edmonton Journal makes it clear that the Cons’ efforts to stymie any global climate change agreement aren’t without some serious controversy even in the party’s Alberta core: The year 2011 had better not go down in history as one in which Canada
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – No, there’s no doubt that the Harper Cons’ position on greenhouse gas emissions has been both amoral in its disregard for climate change, and ill-founded in its pretence that Alberta’s failing “intensity” targets will do anything positive. Which makes it all the more
Continue reading350 or bust: Australia Leads In Climate Fight, Passes Carbon Tax
Australia’s Senate passed a comprehensive carbon pricing scheme yesterday, to the applause of members of the public who were present. Australia is one of the world’s worst greenhouse gas emitters per capita because of its heavy reliance on…
Continue reading350 or bust: In The Face Of Winter, A Movement Blossoms
Despite the police harassment, the arrests, the confiscation of tents and supplies, as well as the imminent arrival of winter, the Occupy movement continues to grow. Although the mainstream media continually under-reports what is happening, thanks to s…
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: CDP Canada 2011: Key Highlights
Carbon Disclosure Project releases its Canada 2011 report today at the Toronto Stock Exchange. More Canadian companies than ever publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions. Contrary to the common believe that going green slows growth, businesses who take the lead into a low carbon economy deliver twice the financial return compare to their peers.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Government Watchdog Report Confirms Canada’s Failures on Tar Sands Monitoring and Climate Action
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Canada's top environmental watchdog official released a damning report today acknowledging the federal government's complete failure to account for the …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Next year country, Year 5
Yes, we should be due for the Cons’ annual declaration that they’ll get around to regulating greenhouse gas emissions from the tar sands, just not this year….right about now.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Beyond our wildest fears
I’ve frequently pointed out that a couple of the Cons’ tax credit programs (implemented while they feigned interest in addressing climate change) made for the least efficient environmental programs on the face of the planet. But did anybody expect that…
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